7 - Interesting to Know - World New Years

Origin of New Year

New Year is the world's most popularly celebrated festival. Origin of New Year dates back to the era of emperors. First New Year celebrations were noticed in Mesopotamia around 2000 years ago. It was celebrated at the time of "Equinox in mid-March" by the Egyptians, Persians and Phoenicians. Now why do humans have a need to name a day in a prescribed yearly calendar and call on that day for the ensuing year to be happy? In fact nobody prescribes an yearly calendar for a society. The concerned society chooses to start on its own an year in the memory of a momentous event. The Christian calendar is Anno Domini, the year of our Lord, the Christ, Jesus of Bethlehem. The Hijri calendar marks the birth of Prophet Mohammad.

Ancient New Year Calendar

As per the ancient Roman calendar New Year fell on "March 1". This calendar just had ten months and March was the first month of the year. The calendar originated by the cycles of the Moon, beginning in spring and ending with autumn planting.

It was Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome who divided the year into twelve lunar months by adding the months of January and February. The New Year was shifted to January as it marked the beginning of the civil years in Rome. But this was not fully accepted by the people of Rome and they continued celebrating in the month of March only.

Hindu New Year

Hindu New Year is celebrated according to the Hindu Lunar Calendar - "Panchaang". The popular name of the Hindu New Year is "Vikram Samvat". In the Indian Calendar, seasons follow the Sun, months follow the Moon, and days both the Sun and the Moon. This era of Vikram Samvat began in 57 BC (after the legendary Hindu King Vikramaaditya) .
In Punjab the new year starts on the 13th of April.

Christian/Georgian New Year

January 1- an Official Date of New Year Celebrations.
It was not until The Roman Emperor - Julius Caesar officially declared "January 1" to be a New Year in 46 BC. The calendar was named after him as the "Julian calendar".
The Christian Calendar we use has changed over the years and while the original calendar had 10 months only, it has had 2 months, that of July and August, added on later. The calendar as we know it is called the Gregorian calendar. Anno Domini I think is more an era than a calendar. In fact Christmas is celebrated in some parts of the world and by some Christian sects on the 6th of January.

Islaamik New Year

Islaam has a lunar based calendar with 354 days. It is 11 days shorter than the solar calendar. Islaamik New Year is celebrated on the "Muharram 1" (first Islamic month). The word Muharram also means respect or forbidden. New Year celebrated by Muslims is not a gala affair rather it's a quite and sober celebration.

People gather in mosques and Dargaah to offer special prayers. Muslims celebrate this day to pay homage to Prophet Muhammad. The most important part is to tell the "hijra" (Muhammad's flight from Medina to Mecca).

Shia Muslims do not take part in New Year activities. They commemorate the "Battle of Karbalaa" and observe it as a month of mourning.

Persian New Year

"Jamshedi Navroz" is the Persian New Year. It falls on "21st March". Persian New Year was named after the legendary King of Persia, Jamshed who started the Persian Calendar. As per the Persian mythology, universe was recreated on this day and life with all its glory is cherished. Navroz means spring and is believed Mother Nature casts her spell by dressing up like a young bride. It is celebrated at the time of "Equinox" when the Day and Night are of equal.

Jewish New Year

New Year for Jewish people is the most important event and it's origin can be traced from the Bible. The Jewish New Year takes place in the month of Tishri that are months of September and October according to the Gregorian calendar. Festival celebrations are 10 days long and begin with "Rosh Hashanah" and end with "Yom Kippur".

2009 New Year Celebrations

Millions in several cities ushered in the New Year in 5 separate times, in as many different time frames spread within 24 hours. This can only mean that we had 5 different moments when the new year began.

Millions counted out the exact moment and when it arrived, they screamed and danced and kissed and and hugged and wept and exposed little babies to cold temperatures, and felt they had achieved something great.

The cities were Sydney, Hong Kong, Berlin, London and New York. The other countless cities don't count because they don't have the funds to have the fanfare and fireworks to be seen on the television. There was no new year in Dhaakaa, Delhi, Muzzafaraabaad, Prague, Lhasa, Timbuktu, Athens, and Havana. In terms of a continent, Africa did not count.

Now if you think all this is superfluous, note that at least in these 5 cities, throughout the year, Time runs in a relay. So when the year ends, it also ends in piecemeal. This leads us to the thought, maybe there are no new years at all, just the same old wine in a new bottle. And if its old wine, maybe we drank it up a long ago. Which means we celebrate every new year with an empty bottle.