31 December 2007

Happy New Year 2551!?

The New Year is an event that happens when a culture celebrates the end of one year and the beginning of the next year. Cultures that measure yearly calendars all have New Year celebrations.

The most common modern dates of celebration are listed below, ordered and grouped by their appearance relative to the conventional Western calendar.
  • 1 January: The first official day of the year in the Gregorian calendar used by most countries.

  • In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the civil New Year falls on 14 January (1 January in the Julian Calendar). Many in the countries where Eastern Orthodoxy predominates celebrate both the Gregorian and Julian New Year holidays, with the Gregorian day celebrated as a civic holiday, and the Julian date as the "Old New Year", a religious holiday. The Church's own liturgical calendar begins on September 1, thereby proceeding annually from the celebration of Jesus' birth in the winter (Christmas). through his death and resurrection in the spring (Pascha / Easter), to his Ascension in the summer, and the assumption of his mother (Dormition of the Theotokos / Virgin Mary) in the fall.

  • The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, occurs every year on the new moon of the first lunar month, about four to eight weeks before spring (Lichun). The exact date can fall anytime between 21 January and 21 February (inclusive) of the Gregorian Calendar. Because the lunisolar Chinese calendar is astronomically defined, unlike the Gregorian Calendar, the drift of the seasons will change the range. Each year is symbolized by one of 12 animals and one of five elements, with the combinations of animals and elements (or stems) cycling every 60 years. It is the most important Chinese holiday of the year.

  • The Vietnamese New Year is the Tết Nguyên Đán which is for most times the same day as the Chinese New Year.

  • The Tibetan New Year is Losar and falls from January through March.

  • Hola Mohalla, New Year's Day in the Sikh Nanakshahi calendar is on March 14.

  • The Iranian New Year, called Norouz, is the day containing the exact moment of the vernal equinox, commencing the start of the spring season. In 2007 this falls on 20 March.

  • The Zoroastrian New Year coincides with the Iranian New Year of Norouz. It is celebrated by the Parsis in India and by Zoroastrians and Persians across the world.

  • In the Bahá'í calendar, the new year occurs on the vernal equinox on 21 March, and is called Naw-Rúz.

  • In the Saka Calendar (Balinese-Javanese Calendar) the celebration of new year falls on 30rd of March in this year. the celebration gather of Nyepi, Balinese Hindu holiday.

  • The Telugu New Year generally falls in the months of March or April. The people of Andhra Pradesh, India celebrate the advent of Lunar year this day. This day is celebrated across entire Andhra Pradesh as UGADI(Meaning the Start of a new Year.).The first month is Chaitra Masam. Masam means month.

  • Gudi Padwa is celebrated as the first day of the Hindu year by the people of Maharashtra, India. This day falls in March or April and coincides with Ugadi.

  • The Kannada New Year or Ugadi is celebrated by the people of Karnataka, India as the beginning of a new year according to the Hindu Calendar. The first month of the new Year is Chaitra.

  • A Sindhi festival of Cheti Chand is celebrated on the same day as Ugadi/Gudi Padwa to mark the celebration of the Sindhi New Year.

  • The Assyrian New Year, called Rish Nissanu, occurs on 1 April

  • The Punjabi new year Vaisakhi is celebrated on 13 April and celebrates the harvest.

  • The Nepali new year is celebrated in spring, on the first day of the lunar month Baisakh. In the English calender, it usually falls between 12 - 15 April.

  • The Thai and Lao New Year are celebrated from 13 April to 15 April by splashing water.

  • The Cambodian New Year and Lao New Year are celebrated from 13 April to 15 April.

  • The Bengali New Year Pohela Baisakh is celebrated on 14 April or 15 April in a festive manner in both Bangladesh and West Bengal, India.

  • The Sinhalese New Year falls In April (the month of Bak) when the sun moves from the Meena Rashiya (House of Pisces) to the Mesha Rashiya (House of Aries) Sri Lankans begin celebrating their National New Year "Aluth Avurudhu" in Sinhala and "Puththandu (புத்தாண்டு)" in Tamil. However, unlike the usual practice where the new year begins at midnight, the National New Year begins at the time determined by the astrologers. Not only the beginning of the new year but the conclusion of the old year is also specified by the astrologers. And unlike the customary ending and beginning of new year, there is a period of a few hours in between the conclusion of the Old Year and the commencement of the New Year , which is called the "nona gathe" (neutral period). During this time one is expected to keep off from all types of work and engage solely in religious activities.

  • In India, the Tamil New Year and Vishu are celebrated on the same day respectively in the Southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. They generally fall on 13 April or 14 April. The first month of the Tamil New Year is called Chithrai. Every year in the month of Chithrai (சித்திரை), in the temple city of Madurai, the Chithrai Thiruvizha is celebrated in the Meenakshi Temple. A huge exhibition is also held, called Chithrai Porutkaatchi. In some parts of Southern Tamil Nadu, it is also called Chithrai Vishu. The day is marked with a feast in Hindu homes and the entrance to the houses are decorated elaborately with kolams. Also in Karnataka New Year is celebrated in April in the name of festival called Ugadi. The tradition is to prepare a food called BevuBella which contains Neem extracts(leaves/flowers/buds) and Jaggery. This food depicts life which is always a combination of bitter and sweet.

  • Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew for 'head of the year') is a holiday commemorating the culmination of the seven days of Creation, and marking God's yearly renewal of His world. The day has elements of festivity and introspection, as God is traditionally believed to be assessing His creation and determining the fate of all men and creatures for the coming year.

  • In the Coptic Orthodox Church, the New Year, called Neyrouz, coincides with 11 September in the Gregorian calendar between 1900 and 2099, with the exception of the year before Gregorian leap years, when Neyrouz occurs on 12 September). The Coptic year 1723 began in September 2005. The Ethiopian Orthodox New Year, called Enkutatash, falls on the same date as Neyrouz; the Ethiopian calendar year 1999 thus began on September 11, 2006.

  • The Marwari New Year is celebrated on the day of the festival of Diwali

  • The Gujarati New Year is usually celebrated the day after the festival of Diwali (which occurs in mid-fall - either October or November, depending on the Lunar calendar). The Gujarati New Year is synonymous with sud ekam of the Kartik month - the first day of the first month of Gujarati lunar calendar. Most other Hindus celebrate the New Year in early spring, but the Gujarati farming community celebrates the New Year after Diwali to mark the beginning of a new fiscal year.

  • Some neo-pagans celebrate Samhain (a festival of the ancient Celts, held around November 1) as a new year's day representing the new cycle of the Wheel of the Year, although they do not use a different calendar that starts on this day.

  • The Islamic New Year occurs on 1 Muharram. Since the Muslim calendar is based on 12 lunar months amounting to about 354 days, the Gregorian date of this is about eleven days earlier each year. 2008 will see two Muslim New Years.

  • The Thelemic new year is usually celebrated with an invocation to Ra-Hoor-Khuit, commemorating the beginning of the New Aeon in 1904. It also marks the start of the twenty two day Thelemic holy season.

2 comments:

RoseBelle said...

Hi, I came across your blog as I was searching for images of Guan Yin and Guan Gong. Your blog is informative on topics of Buddhist religion. I'm always glad to come across blogs that covers Buddhism as I am a Buddhist myself.

Vampire Rabbit said...

It sure is informative. The site has a 2009 calendar at http://ecumenicalbuddhism.blogspot.com/2009/01/2009-buddhist-holidays.html as well.

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