Why Ugadi and Tamizh new year are falling on different dates?

        Ugadi is the New year day for the states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. It is also celebrated as Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra and Navreh in Jammu Kashmir. They all occur on the same day. 

Ugadi means - Yugam / Uga (age) + adi (beginning), together it means beginning of new age. 

         The first day of Chaitra month is called as Ugadi / Yugadi. Ugadi begins on the first new moon day after the occurence of spring equinox. The next day morning after the sun rise is celebrated as Ugadi / Gudi padwa.

People from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra are following a Luni - solar calendar.

What is Luni - Solar calendar ?

         Luni - solar calendar considers the phase of the moon and the position of the Sun for their year calculation, zodiacs are not considered. Where as in tamizh calendar, position of the Sun and zodiacs are considered and phase of the moon are not considered for the calculation of a year.

        Ugadi - new year occurs on first day (Pratipada) of waxing Moon after the vernal / spring equinox (explained below) which usually occurs at the end of the March. Thus, telugu new year will be celebrated during March end or during April depending upon the cycle of moon. 

What is Equinox ?

        Equinox - means equal length of day and night. This event occurs when the Sun crosses the Earth's plane of equator i.e both Sun and equator aligns in a straight line. 

    This equinox event occurs twice in a year, when the Earth is revolving in it's elliptical orbit. 

1. Vernal / Spring Equinox - This occurs during spring season, i.e on March. Also known as northward equinox

2. Autumnal Equinox - This occurs during autumn season i.e on September. Also known as southward equinox.

More details about Equinox and tamizh calendar comparison will be in the next post...

        Though, Tamizh calendar is based on Solar and zodiacs position, in both the Solar and Luni - Solar calendars, the first month is called as Chaitra / Chithira.          

 The different new year dates for Ugadi and tamil new year is not just because of different calendar system (Luni solar and Solar), but also  due to the concept of Adhik maas / extra month in Luni - solar calendar...

Ugadi celebration

Extra lunar month (13 months) in Luni -solar calendar

        In Luni - solar calendar, they will have an extra lunar month i.e 13th month which they call it as 'Adhika maas'. Adhik Maas ( adhika = 'extra', masa = 'month') is an extra month in the Hindu calendar that is inserted to keep the lunar and solar calendars aligned. The position of Adhik Maas amongst the other months is variable, re-occurring about every 32.5 months. Auspicious activities are not done in Adhik Maas. Marriage, engagement, festival, idol installation is not done this month.

        In tamizh calendar, we will always have 12 months and no concept of Adhik Maas / Extra month, as we follow a precise calculation based on zodiacs and sun's position. Below are the 12 months of a tamizh calendar.

Why there is an extra lunar month ?          

            Lunar months are shorter than solar months. A normal lunar year consists of 12 lunar months (12 lunar cycles) totalling 354 days. There is a 11 day difference between solar and lunar calendar per year. Thus the lunar calendar has advanced 11 lunar days into the next year.

        Hence, the Hindu calendar introduces an intercalary month (Adhika maas) approximately every 2.5 solar years to re-synchronize the lunar with the solar calendar. In practice, a lunar month that does not witness a sankramana (equinox) and is declared it as an Adhika Masa and labeled with the same name as the lunar month succeeding it. This Adhik maas, is also called as Leap Month.

    But, in tamil calendar, there is no adhik maas and does not have fixed number of days for each month. Tamizh month may even have 32 days, depending upon the transition of Sun, but tamizh calendar does not have a leap year or extra month, check the below picture for reference.....

Like Luni - solar calendar, tamizh calendar does not have extra month or leap month, 

Like Gregorian calendar, tamizh calendar does not have leap year or leap days, to compensate missing days !!!

        In Tamizh calendar, Chaitra / Chithirai 1st is celebrated as start of New year only based on Astronomical reason and not based on any religious reason. It is also called as 'Mesha Sankranthi' as the sun enters into Mesha rasi / Aries zodiac. 

        We follow panchangam, an almanac to follow traditional units of time, nakshatras, thithis (lunar days), important dates and it contains more calculated information in a tabulated form. The practise of using panchangam to calculate auspicious dates for marriages and many other functions are still in use among tamizh people. While calculating auspicious day for marriages, in addition to the solar month and zodiacs, will include lunar days as well (thithis)...

Thus, most of the times Ugadi and tamizh new year falls on different dates, due to different calendar and calculation system. 

        That is why I have mentioned earlier that tamizh calendar is the most accurate calendar in the world. The concept of leap year, leap days, adhik maas (month) is introduced only to adjust the missing days in synch with the solar / tamil calendar....

        My next post will explain, Why there is a concept of leap year ? about the missing days in the Gregorian calendar when comparing it with the tamizh calendar....

- Aarthi Thiyagarajan