New Year celebrations commence on 1st January but little is known about the history behind these celebrations. Do you know that every religion has its own calendar and that New Year date varies from one religion to another?
History of New Year celebrations
The history of celebrating New Year can be traced back to 4000 years when the first New Year was celebrated on 21st March in Babylon during the rein of dictator Julius Caesar. The dictator introduced Julian calendar in 45BC. At that time, the world celebrated New Year on 1st January for the first time. But that calendar was discontinued due to mistakes.After some time, Pope Gregory Gregorian brought a new calendar that was an upgrade of Julian calendar.
Hindu New Year
In Hinduism, the New Year begins on Chaitra Maas of Shukla Paksha. It is an important day because the Panchang starts from this day. Hindus use Panchang to find auspicious days for marriage etc. In India, the New Year starts with spring season.
Islamic New Year
Islamic begins with the Muharram moon. Inspired by the moon, the Islamic calendar has its 12 months revolving around the solar calendar once in 33 years.
Sindhi New Year
Sindhis begin their New Year with Cheti Chand festival that falls on Dwitiya of Chaitra Shukla. They believe that god Julelal that were an incarnation of god Varuna born on that day.
Sikh New Year
Sikhs celebrate their New Year on Baisakhi that comes in April. According to the Sikh Nanakshahi calendar, Hola Mohalla is the New Year. It falls on the next day of Holi.
Jain New Year
Jain community celebrates New Year on the next day of Deepawali. Also, it is the second day of god Mahavir achieving Moksha. They call it Veer Nirvan Samvat and start their New Year from this day.
Parsi New Year
Parsis started celebrating their New year on 19th August. They call it Navroz festival. Navroz is New Day; it is a new beginning for Parsis. It started about 3000 years back when a Shah called Jamshed Ji started this festival in Parsi religion.
Hebrew New Year
Hebrews believe that the god created the world in seven days. They call these seven days “Sandhan” and celebrate New Year after the seventh day. According to Gregory calendar, this day falls between 5th September to 5th October.
Source: https://bit.ly/36egfjP