- February 8, 2024
- Posted by: admin
- Category: Blog
New Year is a fresh start, a beginning when a new calendar year begins. Our celebration of New Year’s Day on January 1 is a recent creation. It is not fixed with precision after consulting any natural or seasonal marker. It’s a civil event, not one defined by nature. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere – where daylight recently ebbed to its lowest point and the days are starting to get longer again – there’s a feeling of rejuvenation in the air.
History of First January
January 1st was first observed as the start of the new year in 45 BC. Before that, the Roman calendar began in March and lasted 355 days. After coming to power, the Roman dictator Julius Caesar changed the calendar. Partly to honour the month’s namesake, Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, whose two faces allowed him to look forward into the future as well as backwards into the past, Julius made the first of January the first day of the year.
New Year Celebrations Around the World
Many cultures celebrate the beginning of their annual cycle in some or the other manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system today, New Year occurs on January 1 (New Year’s Day, preceded by New Year’s Eve). This was also the first day of the year in the original Julian calendar and the Roman calendar (after 153 BC).
Various cultures observe their traditional or religious New Year’s Day according to their own customs, typically (though not invariably) because they use a lunar calendar or a lunisolar calendar. Some of the variations are:
[i] The Chinese New Year
[ii] The Islamic New Year
[iii] The Tamil New Year (Puthandu)
[iv] The Jewish New Year
are some of the examples. India, Nepal, and other countries also celebrate New Year on dates according to their own calendars that are movable as per the Gregorian calendar.
In China, which has a 3,500 years history of celebrating the new year, marks the beginning of the year on the second new moon following the winter solstice, which usually falls around late January or February, marking the start of the Spring season.
In ancient Egypt, the new year usually began when Sirius—the brightest star in the night sky—appeared around mid-July, coinciding with the cyclical flooding of the Nile, which helped irrigate the nearby farmlands. As the ancient Egyptians’ calendar had twelve 30-day months, they would celebrate the new year for five days before counting the beginning of the first month to maintain the lunar cycle.
Pre-Islamic Arabia did not have a standard calendar. However, by 638 A.D., the second Islamic Caliph, Umar I, sought to resolve the confusion over different calendars’ recognition of significant dates in the religion by establishing the lunar Islamic calendar. A new year begins on 1st Muharram (the first day of the first sacred month), when the first crescent moon appears. They opted to start counting the new year from July 16, 622 in the Julian calendar to honor the day Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Medina for setting up the first Islamic state. The start of the year 1446 in the Islamic calendar or the Hijri calendar [which had only 354 or 355 days per year] was on July 7 or 8, 2024, depending on the geographical location.
In ancient Rome the earliest known calendars were, established by the first king, Romulus, and began in Martius (which would become March), coinciding with when new consuls—the highest elected office—took power. It only ran for 304 days or 10 months, with an unassigned winter period between years. Around the 7th century B.C., ancient Rome’s second king, Numa Pompilius, added 50 days to the calendar year to cover the winter period and divided the year unevenly into 12 months, adding Ianuarius (to honor the god of beginnings, Janus) and Februarius (to reference the purification festival called Februa during that month). By 153 B.C., the inauguration of new consuls was moved to Ianuarius, although this was not fixed.
The Lunar-Solar Fix
This calendar was almost like the current calendar, but there remained a key difference from what much of the world uses today: the Roman calendar year was ostensibly lunar-based, but with a moon phase cycle lasting 29.5 days, the calendar sometimes fell out of sync to the point that an additional month had to be introduced—Mercedonius—every so often to get back on track.
When Julius Caesar became dictator of Rome in 46 B.C., he sought advice from astronomers and mathematician Sosigenes to make up a new calendar based on the Sun. By 45 B.C., the new Julian calendar was created, and the civil year in Rome now officially began on January 1. The Julian calendar also introduced an extra day every four years—what we now call leap years, like 2024 will be—but overestimated the length of a solar year by some 11 minutes.
The Julian calendar would be co-opted throughout many parts of Europe as the Roman Empire expanded, but its new year’s day was not significantly marked nor celebrated. For much of medieval Christian Europe, Christmas Day, Dec. 25, marked the start of a new year, while in some other countries it fell on March 25, as part of the Feast of the Annunciation.
The Julian calendar’s 11-minute error had a cumulative effect over the years. By the mid-15th century, it was off the solar cycle by an additional 10 days. The Catholic Church noticed this mismatch, and in the 1570s Pope Gregory XIII introduced a new calendar that would address the discrepancy by making it so that no centurial year (i.e. 1700) gets the extra leap day unless the year is divisible by 400 (i.e. 2000). The Gregorian calendar also formalized First January as the start of every new year.
The Gregorian calendar has now been widely adopted as the international-standard civil calendar for governments and businesses.
Therefore, when the ball drops in Times Square on Sunday night, most of the world’s 8.1 billion people are wishing their friends, family and neighbors a happy New Year!
New Year Celebrations Around the World
Spain
In Spain and a few other Spanish-speaking countries, New Year’s Eve is known as Noche Vieja. It’s traditional for people to stay at home, at least until 12 o’clock, and they like to ring in the New Year by eating 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight. This symbolizes their hopes and dreams for the year to come.
Italy
In Italy, New Year’s Eve is known as La Festa di San Silvestro, that is, the feast day of Saint Sylvestre. Like in most countries around the world, families gather for a meal, which usually features pork and lentils. Rome, Milan and Naples feature big fireworks shows. Some people in Italy believe that wearing red underwear on New Year’s Eve can bring good luck.
USA
In the US, New Year’s Eve is celebrated in much the same way as it is here in Australia. Thus, families get together for a special meal, and there’s a whole load of fireworks. New York is home to the world’s most famous New Year’s celebration. Each year, thousands of party-goers gather in Manhattan to see the famous Times Square Ball being lowered at the stroke of midnight.
China
The Chinese New Year is an annual 15-day festival in China. The Chinese communities around the world begin with the new moon that occurs sometime between January 21 and February 20 according to Western calendars. Festivities last until the following full moon. The holiday is sometimes called the Lunar New Year because the dates of celebration follow the phases of the moon. Since the mid-1990s people in China have been given seven consecutive days off work during the Chinese New Year. This week of relaxation has been designated Spring Festival, a term that is sometimes used to refer to the Chinese New Year in general.
The Chinese calendar defines the lunisolar month containing the winter solstice as the eleventh month, meaning that the Chinese New Year usually falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice. In more than 96% of years, the Chinese New Year is the closest new moon to the beginning of spring (lichun) according to the calendar. In the Gregorian calendar, the Chinese New Year occurs on the new moon that falls between 21 January and 20 February.
Features of the Chinese New Year
Australia
Because Australia is in the far reaches of the Eastern Hemisphere, The New Year is experienced here first of all. People in other countries around the world, like the UK, often wake up to pictures of people having fun down at Sydney Harbour Bridge.
India’s Many New Year’s Days and Their Traditions of Cultural Diversity
Different regions in India observe New Year’s Day on a different date as decided by the traditional (solar/ lunar) calendar. Thus, it comes as no surprise that the multi-cultural Bharat celebrates not one, but many New Year’s Days are known by various names like Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, Puthandu, Vishu, Magi Sangrandh, Navreh, etc. in various parts of India. Their New Year’s traditions reflect the rich cultural diversity of the country.
Different New Year Traditions and Celebrations in India
- Ugadi/ Yugadi
- Gudi Padwa
- Baisakhi
- Bohag Bihu
- Pohela Boishakh
- Navreh
- Puthandu
1. Ugadi/ Yugadi – Telugu and Kannada New Year:
One of the important Indian festivals, Ugadi is the traditional New Year for the Telugus and Kannadigas. It is celebrated on Chaitra Shudda Padyami, the first day of the first Hindu month Chaitra, according to the Hindu lunisolar calendar. The word Ugadi originates from the Sanskrit word, Yugadi, meaning the start of a new age. The people of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka welcome the New Year by decorating their homes with mango leaves and marigold flowers. Ugadi Pachadi, a melange of six different flavors symbolizing various emotions of life, is a significant part of the New Year’s traditions in these states.
2. Gudi Padwa – Marathi New Year:
The New Year’s Day in Maharashtra, Goa and other Konkan regions is called Gudi Padwa. Observed on the same day as Ugadi, the festival marks the arrival of spring. As part of the celebrations, people hoist Gudi dhwaja (a decorated arrangement consisting of a bright cloth tied to one end of a bamboo stick with kalash inverted on it to symbolize victory) outside their homes. Festive dishes like shrikhand and Puran Poli are traditionally made in Maharashtrian homes. The same day is also celebrated as Cheti Chand by the Sindhi community.
3. Baisakhi – New Year in Punjab:
Baisakhi is celebrated with great enthusiasm in the North Indian State of Punjab. This harvest festival is celebrated on the first day of the Vaisakh month (as per Punjab’s solar calendar) usually falls on the 13th or 14th of April. Baisakhi holds a special significance for Sikhs as this day coincides with the formation of the Sikh Khalsa. The Land of Five Rivers,, Punjab, comes to life with the New Year’s traditions like energetic Bhangra and Gidda dance performances.
4. Bohag Bihu – Assamese New Year:
Also known as Rongali Bihu, this is the biggest festival in Assam. The most important of the three Bihu celebrations in the agriculture-based state (the other two being Kati Bihu and Magh Bihu), Bohag Bihu is a harvest festival celebrated in the first month, Bohag, of the Assamese Calendar. This festival heralds the spring season and marks the beginning of the Assamese New Year usually falls in mid-April. The festivities last for several days, during which men and women of Assam dress up in traditional attire and celebrate nature’s bounty.
5. Pohela Boishakh – Bengali New Year:
West Bengal observes the first day of Vaishaka month as Pohela Boishak or Nabo Barsh, which marks New Year’s Day according to the Bengali calendar. People wish each other ‘Shubho Noboborsho’ and take part in the processions, parades, cultural programs, and melas (fairs) that happen throughout the state. An interesting part of the Bengali New Year’s traditions is Panjika, the Hindu astronomical almanac. Every Bengali family ushers in the New Year with the purchase of a new Panjika. Pohela Boishak is also celebrated in certain areas of Tripura and in Bangladesh.
6. Navreh – Kashmiri New Year
Celebrated on the first day of Chaitra Navratri, Navreh is one of Kashmir’s important festivals. Navreh originates from the Sanskrit words ‘nava varsha’ which means ‘new year’. It falls on the same day as Ugadi and Gudi Padwa. Navreh is considered the most sacred as it is believed to be the day when the Saptarshi Era of the Kashmiri Hindu calendar started some thousands of years ago. As part of New Year’s traditions, Kashmiri Hindu families fill up a thali with unhusked rice, curd, salt, sugar candy, almonds, silver coins, pen, flowers, the new panchanga, etc., and this thali is seen first thing on New Year’s Day.
7. Puthandu – Tamil New Year
The first day of the Tamil month Chittirai is observed as New Year’s Day in Tamil Nadu. Similar to the New Year’s traditions in the neighboring states, Puthandu or Puthu Varusham festivities begin with rangolis and puja rituals followed by a festive meal. Tamilians arrange a platter on the eve of Puthandu with fruits, betel leaves, jewelry, coins, etc., and this along with a mirror is placed next to God during puja (Kerala also follows the same practice for Vishu, the Malayali New Year, and they call this Vishu Kani).
The Promise of New Year
The world has celebrated new year across time and space with every geographic niche having its own particular way of celebrating it. The best part is that the world is rapidly uniting over the celebration of new year in various parts of the globe. It is interesting to know that the New year is celebrated almost all across the calendar in some or the other geographical location. From the actual first of January, through February and definitely across Spring to almost July. The human will to celebrate is indefatigable. The spirit of New Year showcases the ability of the human beings to live in hope. Hope that things will turn around and hope that the they will be able to overcome their personal obstacles to rise again and shine forth, Every year when people gather to greet each other on new year they are expressing their happiness at having survived the past and that they are looking forward to another and better placed year. For a civilization that is coming out of the wrath of Covid 19 it is a great sense of attainment that they are alike and have the willingness to fight their way into a healthier new year.