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Assumptions
and uncertainties related to the prediction of holidays based on the Hindu
Calendars
This page
provides additional information needed to better understand how Hindu holidays
dates were predicted in our database of
national public, bank and legal holidays. When looking at the dates of holidays
based on either of the Hindu calendars for various countries, it is important to bear in
mind the following points :
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The dates of the Hindu holidays presented
on this site are
based on the 1957 Indian civil calendar that was recommended by a government
committee in 1952. As such they are as close to the official dates as is
possible, bearing in mind that the authoritative source on the Indian calendar,
the Indian Astronomical
Ephemeris, is usually published late in the year preceding the year under
consideration.
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Note however that the central government,
and some of the regional governments as well, may decide to move the actual
observance of holidays based on the Hindu calendar by a day or two, for reasons
such as the weekday on which a Hindu date occurs, or a conflict with another
holiday based on another calendar (Muslim, for example).
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Additionally, some regions use a calendar
based on a different geographical location than the one recommended by the 1952
committee, and although most implementations of the Hindu
calendar have the day starting at sunrise, some define the sunrise as the moment
when the Sun is first barely visible (the standard definition), some as the
moment when the Sun is halfway visible, and some as the moment when the Sun if
fully visible.
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When the date of a holiday based on the
Hindu Lunar calendar is expunged (ie. does not occur) we use the following date
that exists in the Hindu Lunar calendar. For example, Nyepi (Hindu Lunar New
Year) should occur on the first day of the month of Chaitra, but in 2007 Chaitra
1 is expunged (ie. the Hindu Lunar calendar goes from the last day of the
previous year, Phalguna 30 on March 19, to Chaitra 2 on March 20).
In that case we would display the date of Chitra 2, March 20 2007, for Nyepi.
This is justified by the fact that the Hindu Lunar day begins at sunrise, and
that for a lunar day to be expunged it must occur less than an hour before
sunrise, hence the expunged day's start is already in the next day of the
Western calendar whose days begin at midnight. However, as always, local practice concerning expunged days may vary regionally.
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When dealing with Hindu holidays, it is
important to keep in mind that we are dealing with more than twice the
population of Europe, and a history of civilization dating back to before
1000BC. Expecting a unified and consistent approach to holidays in the Hindu
world is akin to expecting all of Europe to have a single set of holidays,
without any regional variations within the various countries in Europe.
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The present dates of holidays based on the
Hindu calendar are therefore accurate to within one or two days.
The above points apply to both the lunar
or solar Hindu calendars, but particularly to the lunar one. If you have questions or comments, please
do not hesitate to contact us.
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