Page 152 - Innovator's Science-8

Margashirsha (or Agrahayan), Pausha, Magha, and Phalguna. In some
places, the new month begins the day after the new Moon and ends on the

next new Moon; these calendars are called Amant . In other places, the new
month starts the day after the full Moon and ends on the next full Moon;
these are called Purnimant calendars . Both ways help organize the months
based on the Moon's phases.

THE INDIAN NATIONAL CALENDAR
The Government of India adopted a national Calendar, which is used

alongside the Gregorian calendar for various official functions and records.

Indian National Calendar

The Indian National Calendar is a solar calendar with 365 days in a year. The
year starts on March 22, right after the spring equinox. Unlike the
Gregorian calendar, the months in this calendar have either 30 or 31 days.
The month names are taken from traditional Indian calendars. In a regular

year, the second to sixth months have 31 days, and the other months have
30 days. Leap years follow the Gregorian calendar by adding an extra day to
the first month, Chaitra. In leap years, the New Year begins on March 21
according to the Gregorian calendar.

ARE FESTIVALS RELATED TO ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA?

Many Indian festivals are linked to the Moon's phases and follow lunar or
luni-solar calendars. For example, Diwali happens on the new Moon of the
month Kartika, Holi on the full Moon of Phalguna, Buddha Purnima on the

full Moon of Vaisakha, Eid-ul-Fitr after seeing the crescent Moon at the end
of Ramazan, and Dussehra on the tenth day of Ashwina. Because these
festivals follow lunar or luni-solar calendars, their dates change every year

in the Gregorian calendar. Luni-solar calendars add an extra month every
Diwali
few years to keep in sync with the solar year, so their festival dates shift by
less than a month. Purely lunar calendars don't make this correction, so
festivals like Eid-ul-Fitr can fall in different Gregorian months each year.

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