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Revision as of 21:37, 5 February 2011

Yugas

According to Hindu beliefs each Yuga marks the beginning of something new 'epoch' or 'era' within a cycle of four ages. These are the Krita Yuga, the Treta Yuga, the Dvapara Yuga, and finally the Kali Yuga. According to Hindu cosmology, life in the universe is created, destroyed once every 4.1 to 8.2 billion years, which is one full day (day and night) for Brahma. The lifetime of a Brahma himself may be 311 trillion and 40 Billion years. The cycles are said to repeat like the seasons, waxing and waning within a greater time-cycle of the creation and destruction of the universe. Like summer, spring, winter and autumn, each Yuga involves stages or gradual changes which the earth and the consciousness of mankind go through as a whole. A complete Yuga cycle from a high Golden Age of enlightenment to a Dark Age and back again is said to be caused by the solar system's motion around another star.

The Hindu calendar system is based on this belief and the current system had passed through 2 Yugas so far. The beginning of the current neya Yuga is marked with the establishment of the Hindu Empire of Bharat. Under Ashoka Bindusara Maurya the Great reign all the 25 ancient kingdoms that were within the current border of Bharat were united to form a new empire which was christened as Bharat Samrajya. To mark the birth of this new empire a neya Yuga NY (new age) was declared and the years before this unification were documented as purani Yuga PY (old age). And accordingly on 1st Mesh 1 NY (15 April 1024 BCE) Ashoka Bindusara Maurya became the first emperor of this new empire.

This calendar system is the oldest in this world. Georgian calendar which was established 2606 years after the Hindu calendar have a lot of common feature with the Hindu calendar. Hindu calendar and the Georgian calendar are the only two form of calendar system currently in general administration and commercial use through out the world of Mother Earth.

Days of the week

Hindu calendar system has 7 days in a week. Each of the days in the week is named after a celestial body of the solar system. The table below gives the names of the day and also the celestial body it represents.

Sanskrit name of the weekday

English name of the weekday

Celestial object

Ravi vaar: रविवासर

Sunday

Ravi = Sun

Soma vaar: सोमवासर

Monday

Soma = Moon

Mangala vaar: मंगलवासर

Tuesday

Mangala = Mars

Budha vaar: बुधवासर

Wednesday

Budha = Mercury

Guru vaar: गुरुवासर

Thursday

Guru = Jupiter

Shukra vaar: शुक्रवासर

Friday

Shukra = Venus

Shani vaar: शनिवासर

Saturday

Shani = Saturn

For commercial purpose the calendar considers Ravi, Soma, Mangala, Budha and Guru vaar as weekdays or working days. Shukra and Shani vaar are considered as weekends. Ravi vaar is the first day of the week because of the significance of the celestial body, Sun the day represents.

Months

Hindu calendar system has 12 months. Among the Hindu population of this world the months of each year is called as Saur Maas or commonly as Maas. The table below list the names of the Hindu calendar months along with its season and the Georgian calendar months.

Saur Maas (solar months)

Ritu (season)

Gregorian months

Mesh

Vasant (spring)

March/April

Vrishabh

Vasant (spring)

April/May

Mithun

Grishma (summer)

May/June

Karkat

Grishma (summer)

June/July

Simha

Varsha (monsoon)

July/Aug

Kanya

Varsha (monsoon)

Aug/Sept

Tula

Sharad (autumn)

Sept/Oct

Vrishchik

Sharad (autumn)

Oct/Nov

Dhanu

Hemant (autumn-winter)

Nov/Dec.

Makar

Hemant (autumn-winter)

Dec/Jan

Kumbha

Shishir (winter-spring)

Jan/Feb

Meen

Shishir (winter-spring)

Feb/Mar