Namaskar,

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We have started Gujarati GCSE Classes online. (Pearson Edexcel GCSE 9-1 - See below for details). 

Stay safe and healthy.

Introduction

The Hindu festivals, fasts, rituals, holy baths and the observance of sacred days are part and parcel of the great cultural heritage. They are religious and social and a great source of spiritual and moral enrichment. They also lend zest, variety, colour and grandeur to an otherwise insipid, routine and care-worn day-to–day human existence. The Hindu festivals are more than what they appear to be. They are essentially a way of living and thinking in the course of existence, and as such bring their whole right to bear on the individual and the society.

Unlike the deities of the Hindu pantheon, the festivals are numerous and frequent, but basically religious, psychological and intimately connected with the changes of seasons, though many of them have lost the history of their origin in the mists of hoary past. With passage of time they have undergone a process of transformation and evolution and many new festivals have been grafted upon the old ones.

A Hindu festival is, in fact, something more than a ‘festival’. It is cathartic in nature, and as a means of purification strengthens the spirit within. Their goal is to find enjoyment through renunciation and self-denial. They are more of an exploration of the colourful things of life, without being bound to or obsessed by them.

Why do we require panchang for different cities (Countries)?

Most people buy the Panchang from India and use it everywhere in the world. This is not a good practice and one could lead to people observing festivals on incorrect days and at incorrect times abroad. Each festival has a different set of rules about when to observe them.

Hindu festivals are generally based on the Tithi and/or Nakshatra as per the lunar calendar (& some as per the solar calendar). For example, Ganesh Chaturthi is Bhadrapad Shukla Chaturthi Madhyahn purvavidha vyapini (4^th tithi prevailing at midday).

Each tithi begins and ends at the same instant all over the world. After correcting for the time zones, the tithi will begin/end at different local times in different parts of the world. The next thing is to decide if the tithi is visible during the specified time. This is done by using local sunrise, local sunset and local moonrise times. Since India has little variation in terms of sunrise/sunset, a panchang computed for one area of the country is generally usable throughout the country. For example - on a given day if Chaturthi end time is 2:30pm in India. Hence, UK will observe the chaturthi end time of 9:00am (GMT). This clearly indicates in the United Kingdom that the Chaturthi tithi is not prevailing during madhyahan kal (noon time) but it does prevail in India. Hence, the UK will celebrate Ganesha chaturthi on the previous day, as the chaturthi prevails during the noon on the previous day (chaturthi start time is 9:30am GMT in the UK.). What is important is to observe the festival at the right time in your location. If you blindly use the Indian calendar published in India, it won’t be any good to you as the festival observance dates might change due to local sunrise, sunset, moonrise, time differences etc.

The panchang available in India only prints end times in Indian standard times (IST). You need to convert them to your local standard time and use local sunrise and sunset to find out when it can be observed. Most common mistakes people make is observing Pradosh and Ekadashi vrat on incorrect days by following the Indian panchang printed in India.

This month’s Festival.

16-11-2022 Kalbhairav Jayanti, Kalashtami

19-11-2022 Utpatti Ekadashi

21-11-2022 Som Pradosh

23-11-2022 Darsh Amavasya, Moon set 15:32)

25-11-2022 Chandra (Moon) Darshan Beejna (until 16:44)

28-11-2022 Skand Chhathth, Champa Chhathth, Annapurna Vrat Begins

03-12-2022 Mokshada Ekadashi, Geeta Jayanti, Mauni Ekadashi (Jain)

04-12-2022 Akhand Dwadashi

05-12-2022 Som Pradosh

07-12-2022 Vrat Purnima, Shree Dattatray Jayanti

The above auspicious times are calculated according to the Leicester, UK co-ordinates Latitude 52N38 and Longitude 1W05.

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(Contact Email: pyg_hounslow@hotmail.com)

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LIST OF IMPORTANT HINDU FESTIVALS & VRATS FOR U.K.

From 26-10-2022 TO 13-11-2023 - V.S. 2079
(Prepared according to local UK Time).

Important Note:

The Hindu festivals are generally based on a certain Tithi (roughly translated as the lunar phase) or the Nakshatra (Position of Asterisms with respect to the moon and the earth) in a given month or the transition of other heavenly bodies. When the time and place differ a lot from the place for which the Panchang (Religious Almanac) is computed the occurrence of the festival on a given day could change. To correctly compute the time and date of a festival, one must compute the Tithi, Nakshatra etc. for that place in terms of the local time of that place. The festival celebration times and days/dates listed here are calculated according to local UK times and these may differ from other places in the world (e.g. India, USA).

(Ref: Rushi Panchang - UK)

The above auspicious times are calculated according to the Leicester, UK co-ordinates Latitude 52N38 and Longitude 1W05.

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2023 Eclipse Details - Leicester – United Kingdom

20-04-2023   Annular/Total Solar Eclipse (Not Visible in UK and it is not observed)

Beginning 02:34:18, Greatest 04:55:30, End 07:59:18 (B.S.T.)

(Visible in – Australia, Brunei, Fiji, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Vietnam)

05-05-2023   Penumbral Lunar Eclipse (Not Visible in UK and it is not observed)

Eclipse Details -              Beginning - 16:12:00          Mid - 18:22:48            End - 20:33:42 (B.S.T.)

(Visible in - Australia, Asia, Africa.)

14-10-2023   Annular Solar Eclipse (Not Visible in UK and it is not observed)

Beginning 16:03:06, Greatest 18:36:30, End 21:55:12 (B.S.T.)

(Visible in – North America, Canada, South America, Colombia, Brazil)

28-10-2023   Partial Lunar Eclipse (Visible in UK and need to observed)

Eclipse Details -              Beginning - 20:34:18          Mid - 21:14:00            End - 21:53:30 (B.S.T.)

(Visible in – UK to Australia)

Eclipse Vedh Observation – Maximum from Saturday, 28^th 2:01pm until the end at 9:53:30pm & minimum from Saturday, 28^th 5:56pm until the end at 9:53:30pm.

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Adhik Shravan Maas – Starts Wednesday, July 18th 2023 (Tuesday, July 17^th 2023, 19:32 BST - New Moon) & ends Wednesday, August 16^th 2023, 10:38 BST

According to the sidereal zodiac system this year the Sun enters the zodiac sign Cancer (Kark) on July 17^th, 01:36 B.S.T. (British Summer Time) and stays in this zodiac sign until August 17^th, 09:03 B.S.T. During this period two new moons (Amavasya) occur, the first new moon occur on September 17^th, 19:32 B.S.T. and the second new moon occur on August 16^th, 10:38 B.S.T. and hence the Adhik Maas. The Adhik Maas occurs at the beginning of the lunar month Shravan, hence it’s called as Adhik Shravan, and the following lunar month is regular lunar month Shravan.

Blue moon - 2023

The term "blue moon" is most often defined as the second full moon occurring within a single month. In 2023 the two full moons (Purnima) occurs in the month of August. The first full moon on 1^st August – 19:31 (BST) and the second full moon on 31^st August – 02:36 (BST).

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Lunisolar Almanac:

Lunisolar months are lunar months and based upon the appearance of the moon. Interestingly there are two kinds of lunisolar months too.

1. Amanta Months: The months start with the new moon and end with the new moon. This almanac is synchronized with the Nirayana year i.e. with the leap year consideration. Amanta months are divided into Sudi (Sukla Paksha) and Vadi (Krishna Paksha). The sudi is the period of new moon to the full moon (i.e. increasing moon shape), it is also called the waxing phase. The vadi is the period of full moon to the next new moon (i.e. decreasing moon phase), it is also called the waning phase. The Amanta months start with the Sudi (Sukla Paksha). The Chaitra Amanta Lunisolar almanac the New Year starts with Chaitra and is followed in the South and South-West Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.The Kartika Amanta Lunisolar almanac the New Year Starts with Kartika and is followed in Gujarat including Sauratra-Kathiawar.The Aashadhh Amanta Lunisolar almanac the New Year Starts with Aashadhh and is followed in Kachhchh region of Gujarat.

2. Purnimanta Months (in Rushi Panchang the Purnimant months are written in brackets): This type of almnac uses the full moon ending months. Thus the months start with the day after the full moon to the next full moon. The Purnimanta months are also divided into vadi and sudi paksha (period) like amanta months. Thus the purimantha months start with the Vadi (Krishna Paksha). The vadi is the period of full moon to the next new moon (i.e. decreasing moon phase), it is also called the waning phase. The sudi is the period of new moon to the full moon (i.e. increasing moon shape), it is also called the waxing phase. The Purnimanta Almanac is followed in most of the North India (Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Bihar). 

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