A calendar is a way of organising days and months for social, religious, commercial or administrative reasons. It also denotes the list of upcoming events. In other words, we can say that a calendar is a physical record of organising days for various purposes.

India is a land of diversity with many languages, regional cultures, and religions. In a diverse country like India, different types of calendars are seen. All calendars are based on a different era. The basic astronomical units of days, months, and years are the building blocks of all calendars in India.

Various Calendars in India

In India, basically, the four types of calendars are followed, which are as follows:

1. Vikram Samvat, also known as the Hindu lunar calendar.
2. Saka Samvat, also known as the Hindu Solar calendar.
3. Hijri Calendar, also known as the Islamic lunar calendar.
4. Gregorian Calendar, also known as the Scientific solar calendar.

Vikram Samvat

• Vikram Samvat is the most well-known Era used currently in traditional India
• Many historians believe that Chandragupta, the king of Ujjain who took the title of Vikramaditya, started this lunisolar era in 57 BCE when he won over the Saka rulers
• It is a lunisolar calendar as per Hindu rituals from the past
• It starts around April 15th in Nepal, marking the beginning of solar’s New Year
• There are 12 months in a year and 354 days in total
• But still, some people believe that this calendar was created by the Ganarajya and later on, it was named after Vikramaditya
• This calendar is lunar, based on the calendar of Hindus of ancient times.
• It is used in almost all parts of India, except the West Bengal region
• In the regions of North India, it begins in the month of Chaitra, and every new month begins on the day of Purnima (full moon)
• In the regions of Gujarat, it begins in the month of Karthika, and every new month begins with the Amavasya (New Moon)
• In all the regions, each month is divided into two halves
• The dark half of the month is known as Krishnapaksha
• The Krishnapaksha begins with the new moon and ends with a full moon
• The bright half of the month is known as Shuklapaksha
• The Shuklapaksha begins with the New Moon and ends with the full moon
• There are a total of 354 days in a year of Vikram Samvat calendar
• In a cycle of five years, every third and fifth year has thirteen months

Saka Samvat

• The Sakar rulers started the Saka Samvat calendar to commemorate their victory over kushana rulers
• Many historians believe that it was founded by a king of the Satavahana dynasty named Shalivahana
• It began in 78 CE
• It marks the beginning of the Saka Samvat. Later on, in 1957,  this calendar was introduced as the Indian National Calendar
• The Saka calendar is also referred to as the Shalivahana Saka era or Mahasakkarat Era
• In the Saka calendar, every year consists of 365 days
• It also contains a constant number of days in each month
• This calendar is used in India and used in other countries like Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, etc

Gregorian Calendar

• The Gregorian Calendar was introduced in October 1582
• It is based on the birthday of Jesus Christ- the founder of the Christianity religion
• It replaced the Julian Calendar due to its error in calculating the leap year
• It is named after Pope Gregory XIII
• It is the most widely accepted calendar used around the world
• It is a solar year, and it begins on 1st January and lasts for 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds
• The Gregorian Calendar is normally used as the Civil calendar

Conclusion

This chapter gives detailed knowledge about various calendars in India and Indian societies. Different methods are used to frame calendars in different parts of India like the Lunar System, Solar System, Luni-Solar System. There are four various calendars used in India. Vikram Samvat, also known as Hindu lunar calendar, Saka Samvat, also known as Hindu Solar calendar, Hijri Calendar, also known as Islamic lunar calendar, Gregorian Calendar, also known as Scientific solar calendar. Saka calendar is the main basis of the national calendar of India, which began in 1957. Vikram Samvat calendar is a lunar calendar based on the calendar of Hindus of ancient times. The Gregorian Calendar was introduced in October 1582. It is based on the birthday of Jesus Christ- the founder of the Christianity religion. It replaced the Julian Calendar due to its error in the calculation of the leap year.

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