Indian National Calendar

The Indian National Calendar, also called the Saka Calendar, is used, alongside the Gregorian calendar, by the Government of India. It is used in several other countries as well, including Nepal and Indonesia. The Saka calendar was introduced in 1879 CE by Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur state. It was originally based on the lunisolar Hindu calendar, but has since been reformed to better align with the Gregorian calendar. The current version of the calendar is the one that was reformed in 1957. The Saka calendar is a lunisolar calendar, with months determined by the position of the moon and years aligned with the solar cycle. The calendar is used to determine religious festivals and other important dates. The first day of the Saka calendar, 1 Chaitra, falls on 22 March in the Gregorian calendar. This is also the first day of the Hindu calendar. The Saka calendar has 12 months, with each month beginning on the day of the new moon. The months of the Saka calendar are: 1. Chaitra 2. Vaisakha 3. Jyaishtha 4. Asadha 5. Sravana 6. Bhadra 7. Asvina 8. Kartika 9. Agrahayana 10. Pausa 11. Magha 12. Phalguna Important days in the Saka calendar include: 1. New Year's Day: 1 Chaitra 2. Maha Shivaratri: 13-14 Phalguna 3. Holi: 26-27 Phalguna 4. Rama Navami: 9 Chaitra 5. Mahavir Jayanti: 13 Chaitra 6. Hanuman Jayanti: 14 Vaisakha 7. Guru Purnima: 15 Asadha 8. Raksha Bandhan: 3 Sravana 9. Dussehra: 6-7 Asvina 10. Diwali: 21-22 Kartika