Plan to cut 2069 BS short by a month all set to fail again
The government’s efforts to tackle the effects of changing positions of stars and the Earth in the existing Bikram Sambat (BS) calendar is likely to bite dust one more time. The Ministry of Culture (MoC) is hesitant on implementing a decision taken by the Cabinet on December 31, 2008.
The Festival Reforms National Taskforce that consists of astrologers had proposed that a month be slashed off the 12-month Nepali calendar in 2066 BS. However, following confusion among the people over the idea, the plan was postponed until 2069 BS, which begins mid-April this year.
Astrologers’ mathematical calculations show the plan can be implemented without disturbing daily life and horoscopes only in a year having the intercalary feature (adhikmas). Such a period falls every three years as per the paatro (calendar), experts say.
“It may look unusual while many even fear important events might be deleted [while removing a month],” said Acharya Jayanta, a member of the taskforce, who is an associate professor of Sanskrit and Astrology in Balmiki Campus, Kathmandu. “This misconception can be avoided if we implement the plan in an intercalary year.” An intercalary month, by default, has 30 extra days, making a year tentatively of 13 months. And one month in an intercalary year, which normally falls in the month of Jestha or Ashad, does not contain any religious festival, thereby deferring each festival in the year by at least a month. “Therefore, the idea of amendment is only about not following the adhikmas for a year,” said Jayanta. “By doing this, we will be able to arrange the festivals as per their original time frame determined by the season.” As of now, Acharya said that due to the changing position of the Earth vis-à-vis the stars, the calendar is already late by 24 days.
For instance, the Nepali New Year, as celebrated on the first day of Baisakh, is assumed astrologically to have the day and night of equal duration. “However, the first of Baisakh has come down to seventh Chaitra, the last month of the calendar,” Jayanta said, adding that the festivals have deviated from their original time.
“This is a natural process which occurs as a day is reduced every 72 years. It has to be dealt with by arranging such a year every two centuries. Since amendment has not been made to our calendar for more than one millennium, a lot of problems have been witnessed in the seasons. If the gap of 24 days goes on increasing, one day, the rainy season may come to the winter months of Poush and Magh.”
According to Acharya, the amendment proposed by the committee formed in 2006 will reduce the gap of 24 days to six, which will automatically get adjusted over the next centuries.
After its failure in 2066, the plan is likely to fail again this year since the MoC, owing to protests over the idea by the Nepal Panchanga Nirnayak Samiti, a body that publishes the astrological paatro every year, has already stepped back.
“We are still studying the matter,” said Narayan Prasad Regmi, the MoC Spokesman. “Therefore, it may not be possible to implement the idea in 2069.”
The Samiti has argued that there is no need to amend the paatro as the position of the stars and the Earth is a matter of constant change under limited periphery. “Just as the days have reduced over the years, they will again start increasing after reaching a certain point of time. There is no point in amending the whole calendar cosmetically,” said Sri Krishna Adhikari, a Samiti member.
However, Jayanta ruled out this possibility and said that rotations of the sun and the Earth have already exceeded their periphery of 54 degrees. “The movement has climbed up to 62 degrees, so the days won’t decrease again. We will have to handle the issue ourselves.”
Posted on: 2012-01-09 09:10
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