Saura Calendar

Saura is a term which refers to the solar days and months in Vedic era and medieval Indian calendars, to differentiate them from lunar system in the lunisolar calendars.

Etymology

''Saura'' is a term found in Indian religions, and it connotes "sun" (Surya) or anything "solar"-related.Monier Monier-Williams
सौर, saura
Sanskrit-English Dictionary and Etymology, Oxford University Press, page 1254

The earliest mention of the term ''Saura'' is in Vedic and Upanishadic texts of Hinduism. For example, it appears in chapter 7.2 of the ''Sankhayana Aranyaka'' embedded in the ''Rigveda'', and in the ''Maitri Upanishad'', in both it contextually means ''Surya''. In the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Puranas'', the term is used to refer to the Sauras, worshippers of the sun deity. In esoteric Buddhism, the term appears in the context of yogi and deity, with alternate spelling of ''savara''.

Overview

The solar day and months in the Vedic era calendars and in the medieval Indian calendars are prefaced as ''saura'', to differentiate them from lunar system in the lunisolar calendars. However, the name of ''saura'' months in Vedic texts and medieval texts are different, with the medieval era linking it to the zodiac system that is same as and influenced by the Greek zodiac system. Timekeeping as well as the nature of solar and moon movements are mentioned in Vedic texts. For example, Kaushitaki Brahmana chapter 19.3 mentions the shift in the relative location of the sun towards north for 6 months, and south for 6 months.

A ''saura'' ( sa, सौर) day is defined in medieval Hindu texts as the period during which the sun stays within one degree of an ecliptic arc. A ''saura'' month is defined in two ways. One, as the period in which the sun stays within one zodiac sign. Second, as the period of thirty intervals of sunrises.

A complete list of ''saura'' months of the Vedic era is found in the ''Yajurveda'' (~1000 BCE). It is so different from the names of ancient Persian/Avestan months, according to Louis Gray, that it "precludes any possibility of mutual influence" between their two calendar system.Louis H. Gray (1904)
The Origin of the Names of the Avesta Months
The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, University of Chicago Press, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Apr., 1904), pp. 194-201

The Vedic solar months were grouped into six by the names given to the months. The "sweet" months – Madhu and Madhava – corresponded to spring. The "bright" months to summer, the "cloudy" names to monsoons, the "sapful" nomenclature for autumn harvest, the "forceful" to winter, and the "ascetic" names – Tapas and Tapasya – reminding of two months of meditation and austere life. Both the Vedic ''saura'' month names and the zodiac-based month names are found in different chapters of the ''Bhagavata Purana''. Its chapter 12.11, contains almost identical solar month names as the ''Yajurveda'', with the exception of ''Sahasya'' which is named as ''Pusya''. Further, the ''Bhagavata Purana'' links each Vedic solar month to one of the twelve Adityas.

Earlier scholars believed that the sun (saura), moon (soma), planets, zodiac-based astrology systems now called Hindu astrology is a field that developed in the centuries after the arrival of Greek astrology with Alexander, because their zodiac signs are nearly identical. But it has been proven that Greeks learned this knowledge from early Indians.James Lochtefeld (2002), "Jyotisha" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing, , pages 326–327

See also

*Saura Purana

References

Bibliography

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{{Hindudharma

Solar calendars
Hindu astronomy
Hindu astrology
Surya