Calendar

In a multinational country like India till recently several official and about 30 local calendars were in use, according to which the time of religious festivals and rites was determined. Among them were also calendars of the ancient eras – in the state of Kerala – the era of Kollam, in Gujarat – Vikram, in Cashmere – Saptarshi calendar; and so on.  Since 1757 the Gregorian Calendar was introduced in the governmental institutions. Nowadays practically all the newspapers, magazines and books are dated according to the Gregorian Calendar, but sometimes one encounters double or even triple date indication: under Gregorian Calendar, local, civil and unified national calendars.  In the Northern and Central parts of India one uses Samvat calendar; in this dating system years are counted beginning from the 52nd year AD.  This dating system is connected with the name of Vikramaditya - a national hero and an ideal ruler. All the Hinduistic festivals are dated according to the Lunar Calendar. It is based on a year of 12 lunar months; i.e., 12 full cycles of phases of the Moon. Each Lunar month is divided into two half-moon periods. Shukla Paksha or the bright fortnight or a waxing Moon (from the new moon to the full moon) and Krishna Paksha «the dark side of the Moon» (from the full moon to the new moon). Before the date it is always indicated to which half of the Lunar Month this day belongs.
The Muslim population uses the Arab Lunar months and the dating system of Hijra (“flight,” or “emigration”), the Prophet Muhammad’s migration (AD 622) from Mecca to Medina in order to escape persecution; the date represents the starting point of the Muslim era counting including for the religious festivals. In 1957 the Unified National Calendar was introduced based on the Era of Saka, dates are counted from the 15th of March 78 year of our era, and the New Year is celebrated  on April 12 with 2-3 days deviation.

The Lord of Time - Kala Purusha. Illustration from astrological manuscript. India. Gujarat. The Gujaratians.		Units of time in traditional calendar systems in India. India. The Indians. 2004.