Shree Ganeshai Namah
Namaskar,
You may ask why this year our Hindu Year is 384 days (very precise 384d 22 hrs 30 min.) and there is an leap (extra) month...
Very interesting facts …..
While the modern Gregorian calendar adds only one leap day on February 29 nearly every four years, the Hindu, Jewish and Chinese Calendars add a whole leap month approximately every three years and these calendars are called Lunisolar calendars.
A lunisolar calendar keeps in sync with the natural cycles of both the Sun and the Moon. Featuring a body of complex regulations, exceptions and mathematical calculations, it is also designed to satisfy a number of requirements conveyed in the Holy Scriptures.
In these calendars, a common year has 12 months and a leap year has 13 months; and an ordinary year has 353–355 days while a leap year has 383–385 days.
Please see below the explanation of Leap Month and Blue Moon.
Gujarati GCSE Classes online. (Pearson Edexcel GCSE 9-1 - See below for details).
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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.
29-05-2023 Ganga Dashahara ends 31-05-2023 Nirjala-Bhim Ekadashi, Gayatri Jayanti, Rukimani Vivah (Orissa)
01-06-2023 Champak Dwadashi, Pradosh, Vat Savitri Vrat begins 03-06-2023 Vrat and Vat Savitri Vrat Purnima, Kabir Jayanti, (Purnima Kshaya Tithi - UKJ) 06-06-2023 Sankasht Chaturthi, Angaraki, Moon rise 24:36 10-06-2023 Kalashtami 13-06-2023 Yogini Ekadashi - Smart UK, (11th Kshaya Tithi - UK) 15-06-2023 Pradosh 16-06-2023 Shivratri 17-06-2023 Darsh Amavashya (Moon set 21:35), (Amavas Vruddhi Tithi - UK) 18-06-2023 Amavas until 5:37, Fathers Day 19-06-2023 Kachchi Halari, Aashadhhi Samvat 2080 begins, Chandra (Moon) Darshan Beejna (until 23:21) 20-06-2023 Rath Yatra 21-06-2023 Summer Solstice - Longest day (Mid summers night) 23-06-2023 Skand Panchami, Aashadhhi Pancham 24-06-2023 kumar Sashthi, Kardam Sashthi-Bangal 25-06-2023 Vivasvat Saptami, Bhanu Saptami, Chaumasi Atthai begins-Jain 26-06-2023 Durga Ashtami, Parshuram Ashtami-Orissa 27-06-2023 Ujali, Bhadli Navmi 29-06-2023 Dev Shayani Ekadashi, Chaturmaas begins, Saurashtri Molakat begins, (Mu. Bakri Eid) 30-06-2023 Pradosh
01-07-2023 Jaya Parvati Vrat & Gujarati Molakat begins 02-07-2023 Chaumasi Chaudash (Jain), Vrat Purnima 03-07-2023 Guru Purnima, Aashadhhi Purnima, (purnima until 12:38), Vyas Pooja, Sanyasi Chaturmaas begins, Sauratri Molakat Jagran 04-07-2023 Hindola begins 05-07-2023 Jaya Parvati and Gujarati Molakat Jagran, Guru Hargovinji Jayanti (Kashmir)
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
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
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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)