The Indian national calendar, sometimes called the Saka calendar, is a solar calendar that is used alongside the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

by ''

The Gazette of India ''The Gazette of India'' is a public journal and an authorised legal document of the Government of India, published weekly by the Department of Publication, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. As a public journal, the ''Gazette'' prints offi ...

'', in news broadcasts by

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

, and in calendars and official communications issued by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. Shaka Samvat is generally 78 years behind of Gregorian Calendar, except during January to March, when it is behind by 79 years. Originally through historical Indian influence, the Saka calendar is also used in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

and Bali among

Indonesian Hindus Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

Nyepi Nyepi is a Balinese "Day of Silence" that is commemorated every ''Isakawarsa'' (Saka new year) according to the Balinese calendar (in 2023, it falls on March 22). It is a Balinese celebration mainly celebrated in Bali, Indonesia. Nyepi, a publi ...

, the "Day of Silence", is a celebration of the Saka new year in Bali. Nepal's

Nepal Sambat Nepal Sambat, also spelled as Nepala Sambata, (Nepal Bhasa: , Nepali: ) is the lunisolar calendar used by the Newari people of Nepal. The Calendar era began on 20 October 879 AD, with 1142 in Nepal Sambat corresponding to the year 2021–2022 A ...

evolved from the Saka calendar. The Saka calendar was also used in several areas in the modern-day

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

as written in the

Laguna Copperplate Inscription The Laguna copperplate inscription ( tl, Inskripsyon sa binatbat na tanso ng Laguna, literal translation: ''Inscription on flattened copper of Laguna'') is an official acquittance inscribed onto a copper plate in the Shaka year 822 (Gregorian ...

. In India, Yugabda is also used with corresponding months of Saka/

. Yugabda is based on Kaliyuga Sankhya preserved by Indian

Astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

. The '' Kali Yuga'' began years ago and has years left as of CE. ''Kali Yuga'' will end in the year 428,899 CE.

Calendar structure

The calendar months follow the signs of the

tropical zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The path ...

rather than the

sidereal zodiac '' Sidereal'' and ''tropical'' are terms used to describe two different definitions of a year, applied in sidereal solar calendars or tropical solar calendars. In astrology, they refer to two different systems of ecliptic coordinates used to ...

normally used with the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

and

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

calendars. Chaitra is the first month of the calendar and begins on the

March equinox The March equinox or northward equinox is the equinox on the Earth when the subsolar point appears to leave the Southern Hemisphere and cross the celestial equator, heading northward as seen from Earth. The March equinox is known as the ve ...

, similar to

Farvardin Farvardin ( fa, فروردین, ) is the Iranian Persian name for the first month of the Solar Hijri calendar, the official calendar of Iran, and corresponds with Aries on the Zodiac. Farvardin has thirty-one days. It is the first month of the ...

, the first month of the

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

Solar Hijri calendar The Solar calendar ( fa, گاه‌شماری هجری خورشیدی, Gâhšomâri-ye Xoršidi; ps, لمريز لېږدیز کلیز, lamrez legdez kalhandara; ku, ڕۆژژمێری کۆچیی ھەتاوی, Salnameya Koçberiyê) is a solar c ...

. Chaitra has 30 days and starts on March 21, except in leap years, when it has 31 days and starts on March 22. The months in the first half of the year all have 31 days, to take into account the slower movement of the sun across the

ecliptic The ecliptic or ecliptic plane is the orbital plane of the Earth around the Sun. From the perspective of an observer on Earth, the Sun's movement around the celestial sphere over the course of a year traces out a path along the ecliptic agains ...

at this time. The names of the months are derived from the older Hindu lunisolar calendar, so variations in spellings exist, and there is a possible source of confusion as to what calendar a date belongs to. The names of the weekdays are derived from the

seven classical planets In classical antiquity, the seven classical planets or seven luminaries are the seven moving astronomical objects in the sky visible to the naked eye: the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The word ''planet'' comes fro ...

(see

Navagraha Navagraha are nine heavenly bodies and deities that influence human life on Earth according to Hinduism and Hindu astrology. The term is derived from ''nava'' ( sa, नव "nine") and ''graha'' ( sa, ग्रह "planet, seizing, laying hold of, ...

). The first day of the week is Ravivara (Sunday). The official calendar reckoned by the government of India has Sunday as the first and Saturday as the last day of the week. Years are counted in the

Saka era The Shaka era (IAST: Śaka, Śāka) is a historical Hindu calendar era (year numbering), the epoch (its year zero) of which corresponds to Julian year 78. The era has been widely used in different regions of India as well as in SE Asia. Hist ...

, which starts its

year 0 A year zero does not exist in the Anno Domini (AD) calendar year system commonly used to number years in the Gregorian calendar (nor in its predecessor, the Julian calendar); in this system, the year is followed directly by year . However, the ...

in the year 78 of the Christian Era/

Common Era Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the o ...

. To determine leap years, add 78 to the Saka year – if the result is a leap year in the Gregorian calendar, then the Saka year is a leap year as well.

History

Vikram Period

The Kushana king

Kanishka Kanishka I (Sanskrit: कनिष्क, '; Greco-Bactrian: Κανηϸκε ''Kanēške''; Kharosthi: 𐨐𐨞𐨁𐨮𐨿𐨐 '; Brahmi: '), or Kanishka, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (c. 127–150 CE) the empire ...

is believed to have created the calendar that came to be known as the Saka Calendar.

Adoption

Senior Indian Astrophysicist

Meghnad Saha Meghnad Saha (6 October 1893 – 16 February 1956) was an Indian astrophysicist who developed the Saha ionization equation, used to describe chemical and physical conditions in stars. His work allowed astronomers to accurately relate the spe ...

was the head of the Calendar Reform Committee under the aegis of the

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research ( IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the ...

. Other members of the Committee were: A. C. Banerjee, K. L. Daftari, J. S. Karandikar, Gorakh Prasad, R. V. Vaidya and N. C. Lahiri. It was Saha's effort, which led to the formation of the Committee. The task before the Committee was to prepare an accurate calendar based on scientific study, which could be adopted uniformly throughout India. The Committee had to undertake a detailed study of thirty different calendars prevalent in different parts of the country. The task was further complicated by the integration of those calendars with religion and local sentiments. India's first prime minister,

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

, in his preface to the Report of the Committee, published in 1955, wrote: "They (different calendars) represent past political divisions in the country ... . Now that we have attained Independence, it is obviously desirable that there should be a certain uniformity in the calendar for our civic, social, and other purposes, and this should be done on a scientific approach to this problem." Usage started officially at 1 Chaitra 1879, Saka Era, or 22 March 1957. India has adopted pie Ephemeris Time in the Indian Ephemeris from 1960 onwards ' m pursuance of the resolution passed1 by the International Astronomical Union in 1955 to adopt the Ephemeris Time in all national ephemendes, m order to have uniformity with other nations in indicating the position of the planets in the Epheirteris A statement is laid on the table giving technical reasonsThe Greenwich Mean Time, lately called Universal Time, had so long been the basic measure of time in terms of which the positions of the Sun, Moon and planets were calculated and shown in the Ephemera It has been observed for some years past that the rotation of the Earth, by which the Universal Time and in fact all mean solar times are determined,is not uniform, it has got a gradual retardation as well as fluctuations for various reasons, as a result of which the Universal Time does not increase uniformly ' As a uniformly increasing time-scale is the independent argument necessary in dynamical astronomy, it has been decided in accordance with a resolution of the International Astronomical Union held at Dublin in 1955 that the positions of the sun, moon and planets would be given in all the national ephemendes with effect from the issue of 1960, not in terms of the Universal Time but of Ephemeries Time defined by resolution of 1952 meeting of the International Astronomical Union This has been done in all the national ephemendes from the 1960 issue, and India have also adopted the same Due to the existence of the fluctuation factor in the rotation of the Earth and consequently in the expression of Ephemera Time, it is not possible to give a definite value of Ephemeris Time in Advance, it is possible only to estimate an approximate value by extrapolation The difference between the Ephemeris Time and the Greenwich Mean Time is now very small, the estimated value of the difference for 1960 is 35*0 seconds of time, so that at Oh-Om-Os G M.T the Ephemeris Time’s Oh-Om-35s https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/1916/1/lsd_02_08_10-09-1959.pdf page 36

Notes

References

Sources *Saha, M. N. (Chairman) (1955
''Report of the Calendar Reform Committee''
New Delhi: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research *

External links

Indian Calendars (by Leow Choon Lian, pdf, 1.22mb)

Indian National Calendar

India Meteorological Department/ Positional Astronomy Centre: current and past issues of the ''Rashtriya Panchang'' and ''The Indian Astronomical Ephemeris''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Indian National Calendar National calendar National symbols of India Months of the Hindu calendar Time in India 1957 introductions Solar calendars