April marks the start of a New Year as per the Indian Calendar.'Calendar' is an English word which shares its root with Kalantara in Sanskrit,meaning time gap,elapsed time or time between any two events.
"Kala" means "time" and "antara" means in between.Antara bears similarity with the English words "inter","intra","enter",etc.Calendar is indeed a measure between two periods of time- Kala Antara
Calendars and clocks are not mere decorative pieces on the wall,as they are today.A calendar is an extension of alock and tracks time beyond a day.
Traditional calendars locate this Earth in space,precisely in relation to the sun,moon and the planets.They are thus clocks that represent the pace of the functioning of the cosmos.When the design and components of a calendar are understood,they bring us closer to understanding the functioning of the cosmos.We can see how our ancestors had not only understood the functioning of the cosmos but had also out models for translating it into mathematical calculations.These models are available to us today in the form of Panchanga,the Indian calendrical system.These models help us conduct our lives in sync with Nature.They indicate the time for rains,to sow,to harvest,to fish,to set sail,to celebrate various festivals and so on.They mark the coming of seasons and prepare us for the season.
From the knowledge of the motions of the planetary bodies,also came the knowledge of the effects they have on man and his surroundings.From this,was born astrology,a model to predict favourable times for performing certain activities on earth.
Hora is the Indian word for time.This comes from Ahoratra,meaning "continuous,unending cycle of day and night".From the same root as Hora,comes words in English,such as horology maning study of time.A horoscope is plotting the planetary positions as well as time.
What is Time?
Time arises because of the inherent motions of the earth,moon,planets,sun,galaxy and other objects in the cosmic space.We have thus:
Ancient Indian Time keeping:
Our clock today has a dial with 12 hour marks and 3 hands-hour,minute and second hand.It helps us track the passage of time in a day.The ancient Indians used the sky as the dial.They used the 27 nakshatras (stars) as the marks on the dial.
They used the 5 visible planets,Mercury,Venus,Mars,Jupiter and Saturn as well as the Sun and the moon,as the seven hands on the dial to track their movements in the sky.
With the sky as the dial,27 stars as markers and 7 bodies as hands,they measured time beyond time and space.
Panchanga-The Indian Calendar:
The five parameters,namely the Nakshatra,Thithi,Vaara,Karana and Yoga,which define the position of the earth with respect to the 7 visible bodies of the solar system,form the vital parts,anga of the Indian Calendar.The Indian Calendar is thus called a Panchanga indicating that it comprises of 5 components.With these five parameters,one can distinctly and precisely define the position of the earth in the sky with respect to the sun,moon and the five visible planets.This helps mark each day,month and the year.
The Indian Calendar,Panchanga was thus created in correlation with the cosmos of which we are a part.Embarking on a new year,an understanding of calendars will show us how even as we stand on this earth,we are all part of this wonderful rhythmic dance happening in the skies.
"Kala" means "time" and "antara" means in between.Antara bears similarity with the English words "inter","intra","enter",etc.Calendar is indeed a measure between two periods of time- Kala Antara
Calendars and clocks are not mere decorative pieces on the wall,as they are today.A calendar is an extension of alock and tracks time beyond a day.
Traditional calendars locate this Earth in space,precisely in relation to the sun,moon and the planets.They are thus clocks that represent the pace of the functioning of the cosmos.When the design and components of a calendar are understood,they bring us closer to understanding the functioning of the cosmos.We can see how our ancestors had not only understood the functioning of the cosmos but had also out models for translating it into mathematical calculations.These models are available to us today in the form of Panchanga,the Indian calendrical system.These models help us conduct our lives in sync with Nature.They indicate the time for rains,to sow,to harvest,to fish,to set sail,to celebrate various festivals and so on.They mark the coming of seasons and prepare us for the season.
From the knowledge of the motions of the planetary bodies,also came the knowledge of the effects they have on man and his surroundings.From this,was born astrology,a model to predict favourable times for performing certain activities on earth.
Hora is the Indian word for time.This comes from Ahoratra,meaning "continuous,unending cycle of day and night".From the same root as Hora,comes words in English,such as horology maning study of time.A horoscope is plotting the planetary positions as well as time.
What is Time?
Time arises because of the inherent motions of the earth,moon,planets,sun,galaxy and other objects in the cosmic space.We have thus:
- day and night,due to earth's rotation around its axis.
- fortnight and month,due to rotation of the moon around the earth.
- seasons,due to the tilt of the earth's axis and its position in its orbit around the sun,
- years,due to earth's revolution around the sun
Ancient Indian Time keeping:
Our clock today has a dial with 12 hour marks and 3 hands-hour,minute and second hand.It helps us track the passage of time in a day.The ancient Indians used the sky as the dial.They used the 27 nakshatras (stars) as the marks on the dial.
They used the 5 visible planets,Mercury,Venus,Mars,Jupiter and Saturn as well as the Sun and the moon,as the seven hands on the dial to track their movements in the sky.
With the sky as the dial,27 stars as markers and 7 bodies as hands,they measured time beyond time and space.
Panchanga-The Indian Calendar:
The five parameters,namely the Nakshatra,Thithi,Vaara,Karana and Yoga,which define the position of the earth with respect to the 7 visible bodies of the solar system,form the vital parts,anga of the Indian Calendar.The Indian Calendar is thus called a Panchanga indicating that it comprises of 5 components.With these five parameters,one can distinctly and precisely define the position of the earth in the sky with respect to the sun,moon and the five visible planets.This helps mark each day,month and the year.
The Indian Calendar,Panchanga was thus created in correlation with the cosmos of which we are a part.Embarking on a new year,an understanding of calendars will show us how even as we stand on this earth,we are all part of this wonderful rhythmic dance happening in the skies.