History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.625

v6.c82.625

In order to be able to perform *vratas* and celebrate *utsavas* at the proper times and in order to find out the appropriate times for religious rites like sacrifices, upanayana and marriage people require a calendar or almanac. A calendar is a methodical combination or book about days, months and years for the purpose of registering in advance religious festivals and astronomical or astrological phenomena and for purposes of civil life. In India about thirty calendars are in use by Christians, Parsis, Moslems and Hindus Confining oneself to Hindus there is a bewildering variety of calendars in use at present. Some are based on the data of the Sūryasiddhānta and some on those of the Āryasiddhānta, while others follow comparatively later manuals like the Grahalāghava; some begin the year with Caitra śukla pratipad (or *pratipadā*), others with Kārtika śukla pratipad and there are small tracts like the Halar⁹⁸⁵ prānt (in Kathiawad) where the year begins with the 1st day of the bright half of Āṣāḍha. Gujarat and North India except Bengal use the Vikrama era, while the Deccan and South India generally employ the Śaka year, but Kashmir follows the *Laukika* reckoning. In some parts (North India and Telangana) and communities the months are pūrṇimānta (i. e end with Full Moon), while other parts (Bengal, Mahārāṣṭra and south India) follow the amānta (month ending with amāvāsyā) reckoning. The result is that some fasts and celebrations universally observed throughout India such as the Ekādaśī and Śivarātri fasts and the celebrations of the birth of Śrīkṛṣṇa are observed on two different days in different parts of the country and by different sects and there is a difference of one month between the days of some observances i. e while on the pūrṇimānta reckoning a certain festival may be observed in Āśvina dark half, the same month may be called Bhādrapada dark half (by amānta reckoning) and the same festival may be celebrated one month later. The confusion is worse confounded in modern times by some calendars being what are called *Dṛk* or *Dṛkpratyaya* based on the data of the Nautical Almanac in order that such happenings as eclipses predicted in the pañcāṅga may be found to tally exactly with what is actually seen by the people. It appears that in South India there are rather too many pañcāṅgas (calendars). In Tamilnad there are two kinds of pañcāṅgas, one is based on *dṛk-gaṇita*, the other is based on the Vākya method (that follows medieval calculations based on Āryabhaṭa which produce less accurate results) There is the Pudukottai pañcāṅga (a Vākya one) issued under the authority of the *rājas* of the principality of that name. The Śrīraṅgam pañcāṅga (a Vākya one) is used by the Śrīvaiṣṇavas, while followers of another Vaiṣṇava sect, the Mādhvas, have a pañcāṅga of their own. The Kanjanur pañcāṅga is the most common Vākya pañcāṅga used by the smārtas who do not use the *dṛk-gaṇita* pañcāṅga issued under the authority of the Śaṅkarācārya. The Telugus follow the Siddhānta-candra⁹⁸⁶ pañcāṅga based on the Grahalāghava of Gaṇeśa composed in śake 1442 (1520 A. D.). In Malabar the people have a dṛk-pañcāṅga, but it is based on a revision of the old Malabar system called Parahita and is not the dṛk-pañcāṅga followed by the Tamils. The Telugus follow the Cāndra reckoning and begin their year called Yugādi from Caitra śukla, while the Tamils follow the Saura reckoning, start their Caitra with Meṣa Viṣu, though, their vratas and religious ceremonies being based on *tithis*, they have to follow the Cāndra-māna. Bengalis use solar months and lunar days with triennial adjustment by the insertion of an intercalary month.