This liberty of disregarding the dates set by the pundits regarding the dates of Sanatani Hindu festivals is given by the Sanatan tradition itself because there is no scope for even an iota of error in the dates of Hindu festivals running from Vikrami Samvat. However, in calendars based on lunar months, the year is not of 365 days nor the month is of 30 or 31 days. Here every month ends in 28 or 29 days. But in Vikrami Samvat, one month repeats every third year, it is called Purushottam or Adhi month.
Recognition of Vikrami Samvat
Therefore, it could be that sometimes Diwali falls in October and sometimes in November, but there has never been any confusion regarding the dates. The history of Vikrami Samvat is 2082 years old. In terms of year calculation, the Gregorian calendar (AD) is 57 years later than this. But the British did not accept this and spread such confusion about its history that the emperor Vikramaditya who ran it was declared unhistorical.
Even after independence, scientific research was never done on this era and it was thrown into the lap of priests. The result was that whatever priest Baba decides is accepted as the date of the festival. In the small country of Nepal, this almanac is officially recognized, hence there has never been any confusion regarding festivals there. There the government decides the date of the festival. Be it the Hindu government of the king or the secular government of the communists.
Illusion of Udaya Tithi
Apart from this, the Government of India uses Shake Samvat for solar calculations. Which is currently in the year 1947, but since the dates of Hindu festivals are usually determined by the movement of the Moon, but some also by the movement of the Sun, there can be manipulations in them due to lagna. Especially regarding Udaya Tithi, Sun and Moon calculations collide with each other and there is a discrepancy in the calculations. Astrologer and lunar calculation expert Vijay Kishore Manav says that sometimes if a Tithi starts from sunrise and ends before sunrise the next day, then that Tithi is no longer valid for worship on the next day, but if some time of the same Tithi is completed on the next day, then that day remains valid for two days. Because of this, many people celebrate the festival a day earlier and some people celebrate the same festival the next day.
Difference between Kashi Vishwanath and Diwakar Panchang
Astrologer and Panchang expert Pandit Santosh Upadhyay says that the Moon sign lasts for 56 hours and the Ascendant lasts for about two hours. Therefore, there is confusion whether this time Diwali should be celebrated on 20th October or 21st October. He explains that western astrology calculations consider the Sun as the basis, hence every zodiac sign lasts for 30 days. Surya Sankranti remains constant from 15th to 15th of every month. Apart from this, different almanacs in our country are telling different days.
Kashi Vishwanath Panchang is giving the date of Diwali as 20th October, while Diwakar Panchang (Jalandhar) is giving Diwali as 21st October. Diwakar Panchang runs in Delhi-NCR and Haryana-Punjab, Jammu and Himachal. Apart from this, Venkateswara Panchang tells the dates of Shatabdi, that too Diwali is on 20th October.
Similar situation in every Indian festival
According to Pandit Santosh Upadhyay, festivals like Diwali and Holi are directly related to the Moon. Diwali is the night of Amavasya and on the night of 20th the moon will completely disappear from the sky. It is true that 21st October will also be Amavasya Tithi during the day but the night of 21st is not a complete Amavasya. Therefore, as a rule, Diwali cannot be celebrated on 21st, whereas if Udaya date is taken as the basis then Diwali will be celebrated on 21st October. Due to this difference between Udaya Tithi and Chandra Tithi, Hindu Sanatani festivals have started being celebrated on two days each.
He also told that this time Vijayadashami was celebrated on 2nd October, whereas it was the 11th day of Navratri. However, in lunar calculations, some date gets lost, hence the same date becomes two days long. But still, due to Purushottam month, Vikrami Panchang is at the top in terms of purity.
Festival date now nationwide
There is one more complication here. To scientificize the days of the year and the cycles of the Sun, Moon and Earth, the Hindu Vikrami almanac is also in sync with the Shaka etc. Surya almanacs. To accommodate this solar cycle, either one date gets lost in the Hindu calendar or sometimes the same date falls by two days. Also, many states of India have different almanacs. There is no coordination among them, hence due to these regional calendars, the country wide festivals fall on two days.
Earlier, since there was a lack of countrywide information, it was not known when a particular festival would be celebrated in Mumbai and when it would be celebrated in Kolkata. Maharashtra’s almanac is different and Bengali almanac is different. Karva Chauth is the only festival which can be celebrated on the same day on which the moon rises. The moon of Chaturthi takes different time to rise.
Sayan and Nirayan Almanac
Vikrami Panchang is prevalent in the northern, western and central regions of our country. It is lunar based, whereas the second national almanac Shaka or Shake Samvat accepts both solar and lunar calculations hence the dates of festivals vary. Besides, there are about 30 more almanacs in the entire country. There is a difference in each one’s calculation. Now every area is connected to another area, hence information is immediately available that a particular festival will be celebrated here on a particular day.
In India, unlike Arab and other Islamic countries, both solar and lunar calculations are recognized. Sayan Panchang is based on Surya calculation and Nirayan is based on Moon calculation. Both have the same five parts and these are Tithi, Vaar, Nakshatra, Yoga and Karan. But the Surya Panchang always depends on the Sun’s entry into the zodiac sign, while the Lunar Panchang is based on the pakshas (Krishna Paksha and Surya Paksha).
phases of the moon
The moon waxes and wanes every day. It completes one revolution around the Earth in one day. It is called art. This is Kala Tithi. The interval from sunrise to next sunrise is called Vaar. There are 27 constellations and the same number of yogas. Yoga is formed by the combination of Sun and Moon. And half of the same Tithi is called Karan. All the calendars of India work on this basis.
Bengali almanac prevails in Bengal and eastern regions of the country, while Malayalam almanac prevails in Kerala and the far south. It is based on Surya calculations, but in India, Shaka Panchang is used for national holidays, hence there is often some variation in state and nationwide holidays. Due to this manipulation, we find that the dates of festivals also differ in different regions. Krishna Janmashtami has been celebrated for two days since long.