KNOWLEDGE FROM COSMOS

  Measurement of time   One of the most striking features of the Hindu calendar system is its intricacy. It offers a  multidimensional method of structuring time, combining information about lunar days, solar days, lunar months, solar months, the Sun's and the Moon's movements in relation to stellar constellations, and other astronomically defined time spans. This makes the Hindu calendar vastly more complex than the  Western calendar , which is  built around only two basic units of time:  solar days  and  solar years . The Flux of Time is apparently, without a beginning or end, but it is cut up periodically by several natural phenomena, The ever-recurring alternation of daylight and night defined a day The recurrence of the moon's phases, defined as a month The recurrence of seasons, defined as a year It is this recurring phenomenon which is used to make a calendar. In the Vedic period, they observed and used these very natural phen...

  The Hindu Calendar Basics of Calendar Making Calendars are used for regulating two essentially distinct types of human activities, (a) Civic and administrative, (b) Social and religious In ancient and medieval times and even today, different countries and religions have developed their characteristic calendars to serve both purposes.  Today in India, different parts of the country follow a distinct accounting system to observe the same ritual. Isn’t it Crazy? This is what appears to a layman, but actually, it is not. The Gregorian calendar fulfils civic and administrative purposes and most of us have a fair idea of this calendar; however, our social and religious requirements are met by the Hindu calendar, without understanding our own calendar. All religious, festivals, rituals, and social occasions are determined based on the Hindu calendar/almanac or a Panchang. One can find festivals and religious rituals almost every month. They apply either to the entire ...

5 Siddhantas Astronomical knowledge was very well developed during the Vedic and Vedang periods and was further developed and updated in subsequent periods. सिद्धान्त is one of the sub-branches of  Ganit Skandha.  For various branches of Astronomy see  https://intrestingcosmos.blogspot.com/2024/03/   -of 01 March 2024  Knowledge of the position of the Sun, Moon, and other planets was required for calendrical, religious, and daily rituals.  The history of astronomical works can be assessed from the oldest known group of  5 ancient  सिद्धान्त   known as  पंचसिद्धांतिका  written by Varahmihira (500 CE) These 5   सिद्धान्त  are  पितमहः, वसिष्ठ, रोमक, पौलिश , सौर Varahmihira in his  पंचसिद्धांतिका  says that the सिद्धान्त  written by Paulisa is fairly accurate, but not as accurate as Saura/Surya Siddhant. The accuracy of others is doubtful. These Siddhantas   outline methods for calculating the me...

The Tropical Year Calendar Julian/Gregorian    The tropical year is the time, taken by the Sun, to pass from the vernal equinox to the vernal equinox. It equals 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds, or 365.2422 days. The tropical year is used, to keep track of seasons, planting, and harvesting. There is a need to create a calendar, with a whole number of days per year to accurately follow the tropical year without losing synchronization with the seasons over a period of time. We begin with a calendar of 365 days per year. Our calendar year is shorter than the tropical year by 0.2422 days. So to correct (approximately), we add 1 day every four years (leap year). Thus, three calendar years are 365 days long; the fourth calendar year is 366 days long. The average length of the calendar year in days now becomes (3 x 365 + 366)/4 = 365.25 days. This calendar system was actually instituted for use in the Roman Empire by Julius Caesar around 46 BC. But since the Julian calen...

  Astronomical Mentions in Other  अङ्गः  of Vedas कल्पः (Manual of Rituals) कल्पः has various  सूत्र  ( सूत्र  is a   large collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual, it is a distinct type of literary composition, based on short aphoristic statements, generally using various technical terms. सूत्र  forms a school of Vedic study).  Types of  कल्पः सूत्र are 1.  श्रौता सूत्र  has  यज्ञ Rituals 2.  गृह्या सूत्र - has Domestic Ceremonies 3.  धर्म  सूत्र -has -Religious and Social Laws 4.  शुल्ब सूत्र -has Geometry and Mensuration  सूत्र  with some important astronomical mentions are अश्वलायन  श्रौता सूत्र Names of months based on nakshatra and seasons are found in this text.  The reference to seasons indicates that spring was considered the year's first season. Tithi is not mentioned specifically ,however use of words चतुर्दशी, अष्टमी indicate Tithis. Like in this verse...

Atharva Vedang Jyotish  Continuing with the Vedang period of the history of astronomy, Atharva Vedang Jyotish (AVJ) relatively, is of a later period than RVJ and YVJ. It is a text, as told to Kashyap by Pitamah. The time units followed then were as  12 निमिष = 1  लव 30 लव  = 1  कला 30 कला  = 1  त्रुति 30 त्रुति = 1  मुहूर्त 30  मुहूर्त = 1 अहोरात्र  / whole day The document also gives the list of 15  मुहूर्त, whose measure is compared with the length of a gnomon/stick, which is 12 anguls long. These names must be of the मुहूर्त by day, as my blog Vedang Period 1 refers (since the shadow is measured). The list shows a maximum shadow of 96 anguls cast by"Rudra"    मुहूर्त and 0 anguls by 'Abhijit'    मुहूर्त. It is not exactly 0, but the shadow does not alter in length or direction, hence 0.  Shadow is not  0 at noon, but it must be shorter than 3 anguls. T he lengths of shadows are not the same throughou...