Shree Ganeshai Namah
Namaskar,
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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 (4th 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.
18-03-2023 Papmochni Ekadashi - Vaishnavi UK 19-03-2023 Mothering Sunday (UK) 20-03-2023 Vernal Equinox - Spring begins 21-03-2023 Darsh Amavashya
22-03-2023 Shalivahan Shake 1945 begins, Chaitri Navratri begins, Gudi Padvo, V.S. 2080 begins Nirth India, Chandra Darshan Beejna (until 19:33) 23-03-2023 Matsya Jayanti, (Mu. 9 Randan UK) 24-03-2023 Gauri Treej, Vinayak Chaturthi 25-03-2023 The Clocks go forward 1 hour after midnight, British Summer Time begins (on 26th at 1:00am) 26-03-2023 Shree Panchami 27-03-2023 Skand Shasthi, Surya Chhathth, Ashok Shasthi (Bengal) 28-03-2023 Vasanti Durga Pooja-bangal 29-03-2023 Durga Ashtami, Bhavani Pragatya 30-03-2023 Shree Ram Navmi, Abhijit Muhurat 12:432 to 13:35 Leicester (Midday 13:09), Chaitri Navratri ends, Shree Swami Narayan Jayanti 31-03-2023 Dharmaraj Jayanti 01-04-2023 Kamda Ekadashi, Shree Vallabhacharya Vadhai 02-04-2023 Vaman-Madan Dwadashi, Vishnudamnotsav 03-04-2023 Anang Trayodashi, Som Pradosh, Shree Mahavir Jayanti (Jain) - UK 04-04-2023 Shivdamanak, Chaturdashi 05-04-2023 Vrat Purnima, Chaitri Purnima, Shree Hanuman Janmotsav
07-04-2023 Good Friday 09-04-2023 Sankat Chaturthi, Moon rise 24:31, Easter Sunday 10-04-2023 Easter Monday 13-04-2023 Kalashtami 16-04-2023 Varuthini Ekadashi 17-04-2023 Som Pradosh 18-04-2023 Shivratri 19-04-2023 Darsh Amavas (Moon set 19:30), Annular/Total Solar eclipse NOT visible in UK and it is not observed (20th April - Begin 2:34am - End 7:59am.), 30 (Amavas) Kshaya Tithi in UK.
22-04-2023 Akshar-Akshay Trutiya, Parsuram Jayanti, (Mu. 10 Shavval, Ramadan Eid-UK)
The above auspicious times are calculated according to the Leicester, UK co-ordinates Latitude 52N38 and Longitude 1W05. REFERENCE:
-------------------------------------------------- (Contact Email: pyg_hounslow@hotmail.com) _________________________________________
LIST OF IMPORTANT HINDU FESTIVALS & VRATS FOR U.K. From 26-10-2022 TO 13-11-2023 - V.S. 2079 Important Note:Netaji Subhashchandra Bose JayantiThe 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. ___________________________________________________
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, 28th 2:01pm until the end at 9:53:30pm & minimum from Saturday, 28th 5:56pm until the end at 9:53:30pm.
----------- Adhik Shravan Maas – Starts Wednesday, July 18th 2023 (Tuesday, July 17th 2023, 19:32 BST - New Moon) & ends Wednesday, August 16th 2023, 10:38 BST According to the sidereal zodiac system this year the Sun enters the zodiac sign Cancer (Kark) on July 17th, 01:36 B.S.T. (British Summer Time) and stays in this zodiac sign until August 17th, 09:03 B.S.T. During this period two new moons (Amavasya) occur, the first new moon occur on September 17th, 19:32 B.S.T. and the second new moon occur on August 16th, 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 1st August – 19:31 (BST) and the second full moon on 31st August – 02:36 (BST). ---------
Lunisolar Almanac:
Lunisolar months are lunar months and based upon the appearance of the moon. Interestingly there are two kinds of lunisolar months too.
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News from Vidyasagar School
We have started the GCSE Gujarati Classes online via Zoom.
For further details please contact -
Sharad Mistry - 07976 738671 (GCSE)
(Gujarati Classes are held on ZOOM, every Monday and Tuesday evening)
(Email: vidyasagar_school@hotmail.com)