Religious Observances in Foreign Lands (1) --Vinayaka Chaturthi
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Subject: Religious Observances in Foreign Lands (1) --Vinayaka Chaturthi
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Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 22:25:20 GMT
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The Hindu Calendar or Panchanga usually lists the dates of
observances or festivals based on calculations for a particular
place. For example, a Panchanga prepared in Pune gives the
dates of observances that are actually for Pune and a Panchanga
prepared in Mysore gives dates for Mysore. However, India is a
tropical country with only one time zone, and the variation in
latitude and longitude will not, in most cases, affect the dates
as given in the Panchanga. But the dates must be recomputed for
a distant place in a foreign country , say New York, USA, so that
a person staying in the distant place may observe the festivals and
other religious events correctly.
In what follows, I discuss the calculation of dates of some of the
important religious festivals and observances based on the lunar
calendar (Chaandramaana). The lunar month has 30 lunar days,
consisting of a bright fortnight (Shukla Paksha) and a dark fortnight
(Krishna Paksha). Each fortnight consists of 15 lunar days or
15 Tithis. A period of one lunar month is said to have elapsed when
the moon, beginning from the celestial longitude of the sun completes
one revolution around the zodiac and coincides with the position
(celestial longitude) of the sun. The celestial longitude of a
celestial body is the position of the body in the zodiac and is
expressed in degrees of arc, minutes and seconds. So the celestial
longitude is a value between 0 and 360 degrees.
What determines the lunar tithi is the DIFFERENCE between the celestial
longitude of the moon and the celestial longitude of the sun.
If the difference is then the tithi is:
--------------------------------------------------
0-12 Pratipada (Shukla Paksha Begins)
12-24 Dvitiya
24-36 Tritiya
36-48 Chaturthi or Chauti
48-60 Panchami
60-72 Shashthi
72-84 Saptami
84-96 Ashtami
96-108 Navami
108-120 Dashami
120-132 Ekadashi
132-144 Dvadashi
144-156 Trayodashi
156-168 Chaturdashi
168-180 Poornima (Shukla Paksha ends)
180-192 Pratipada (Krishna Paksha begins)
192-204 Dvitiya
etc etc
348-360 Amavasya (Krishna Paksha ends)
Example 1: The celestial longitudes of the moon and the sun are
256 degrees 45 mins and 121 degrees 22 mins respectively.
What is the lunar tithi? The difference is 135 degrees 23 mins.
The tithi is Shukla Paksha Dvadashi.
Most Panchangas give the ending times of tithis in local time
or standard time. In such cases, it suffices to compute the
the duration of a tithi at the place where one is residing.
Example 2: A person is residing in New York, USA but has a Panchanga
which was prepared in India. The Panchanga gives the ending of
Shukla Paksha Tritiya as 20 hrs 45 mins Indian Standard Time (IST)
on Jan 10, and the ending of Shukla Paksha Chaturthi as 20 hrs
30 mins (IST) on Jan 11. What is the duration of the Chaturthi IN
NEW YORK ? New York follows EST on the dates involved. EST is
10 hrs 30 mins behind IST. This means the ending of the Tritiya
is at 10 hrs 15 mins EST (20 hrs 45 mins - 10 hrs 30 mins) on
Jan 10 and the ending of the Chaturthi is 10 hrs EST (10 AM) on Jan 11.
The Hindu day begins at sunrise (and not 12 Midnight) and ends
at the following sunrise. The period from sunrise to sunset is
divided into five equal parts which are called Pratah Kaala,
Sangava Kaala, Madhyanha Kaala, Aparanha Kaala, and SayanKaala,
in that order. Local newspapers usually contain sunrise and
sunset times as part of the weather report.
Example 3: On Jan 10, the sunrise and sunset times at New York are
7 hrs 25 mins and 16 hrs 35 mins approximately. The duration of
daylight is 9 hrs 10 mins. Dividing 9 hrs 10 mins by 5 gives
1 hr 50 min. So Pratah Kaala extends from 7 hrs 25 mins to
9 hrs 15 mins (7:25 AM to 9:15 AM), Sangava Kaala extends from
9 hrs 15 mins to 11 hrs 5 mins, Madhyanha Kaala from 11 hrs 5 mins
to 12 hrs 55 mins, Aparanha Kaala from 12 hrs 55 mins to 14 hrs 45
mins and Sayankaala from 14 hrs 45 mins to 16 hrs 35 mins (sunset).
RULE FOR CALCULATING VINAYAKA CHATURTHI
---------------------------------------
Most Hindus celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi on the fourth lunar tithi of
the bright fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada. Some Hindus also
follow the custom of worshipping Shri Ganesh on the 4th lunar tithi
of the bright fortnight of every month, not just Bhadrapada. The
rule for computing the date on which Ganesh Chaturthi is to be observed
is as follows:
On any day, if (Bhadrapada) Shukla Chaturthi prevails during the
Madhyaanha Kaala, then Ganesh Chaturthi is to be observed on that
day. If (Bhadrapada) Shukla Chaturthi prevails during two successive
Madhyaanha Kaalas or if it does not extend over the Madhyaanha Kaala
of any day, then Ganesh Chaturthi is to be observed on the day on
which Tritiya ends.
Example 4: Consider the data in Example 2 and Example 3 above.
When should Ganesh Chaturthi be observed by the person in New York?
The Shukla Chaturthi extends from 10 hrs 15 mins on Jan 10 to
10 hrs on Jan 11 in New York. From Example 3, it is known that
Madhyaanha Kaala on Jan 10 is from 11 hrs 5 mins to 12 hrs 55 mins.
This means Ganesh Chaturthi is to be observed on Jan 10 in New York.
When should Ganesh Chaturthi be observed by a person in India ?
From the data in Example 2, Shukla Chaturthi prevails during the
entire period of daylight on Jan 11 and ends at 20 hrs 30 mins on
the same day. In this case, a person in India would observe
Ganesh Chaturthi on Jan 11.
From the example above, it can be seen that the same observance
can possibly be on different dates in different places. So one
must apply the rule mentioned above to calculate the correct
date.
Note: In the foregoing discussion, I have assumed the Amaanta
system of lunar calendar, whereby the lunar month consists of
the Shukla Paksha followed by the Krishna Paksha.