Why is Holi celebrated on different dates every year ? Why does Holi not fall on the same date every year ?

My Dear Indians,

We will be celebrating Holi on 18 March 2022.

Last year (2021) Holi was celebrated on 29 March.

Tell me - Why is Holi celebrated on different dates every year ? Why does Holi not fall on the same date every year ?

Holi is celebrated on the full moon day of the month of Falgun फाल्गुन of the Hindu Calendar- Vikram Samvat calendar विक्रम संवत पंचांग. This calendar does not match one-to-one with the calendar (January- December) that we follow in our daily live.

There are two ways in which a Calendar Year is calculated.

One is called a Solar Year. The other one is called a Lunar Year.

Solar Year

Time taken by the earth to revolve around the sun once is called one Solar Year. This time is 365 days

January to December year that we normally follow is a Solar Year. This calendar is called "Gregorian Calendar". This is named after Pope Gregory.

The predecessor of Gregorian Calendar was 'Julian Calendar' that was made by Julius Caesar of Rome. This calendar had some errors that were later corrected by Pope Gregory and the corrected calendar came to be known as Gregorian Calendar.

Christmas is celebrated as per this calendar hence some people call this as 'Christian Calendar' also. 

Lunar Year

Lunar Year is determined by the movement of the moon.

Time taken to complete one phase cycle of the moon (Full Moon to No Moon to Full Moon) is called a Lunar Month. This time is 29.5 days.

Please understand that 'Phase Cycle' is different from 'Revolution' of the moon around the earth. 'Phase Cycle' takes 29.5 Days but 'Revolution' takes 27.2 days.

How are these two things different ?

Suppose your school bus is 50 metres away. You want to catch the bus and so you start running towards the bus. At the same time the bus also starts moving in the opposite direction. Now you will have to run MORE than 50 metres to catch the bus.

A similar thing happens with the Earth and moon.

In Mathematics you would have read - Relative speed (in your speed, time, distance chapters)

The moon would take 27.2 days to revolve around the earth if the earth was stationary and not moving. It takes 2.3 days extra because of Relative Movement of the earth. This makes a total of 29.5 day which is equal to one Lunar Month

One Lunar month multiplied by 12 is one Lunar Year.

Hindus celebrate their festivals as per the Lunar Calendar called "Vikram Samvat Panchang" विक्रम संवत पंचांग (संवत means Year. पंचांग means Calendar)

Mathematically, One Lunar Year = 29.5 X 12= 354 Days.

Notice the difference between the length of Gregorian Year and  विक्रम संवत...... there is a difference of 11 days.

Lunar Year is shorter than Solar Year by 11 days. Date of Hindu festivals stays the same every year as per विक्रम संवत but when we mark this date on the Gregorian Calendar it corresponds to a different date every year because of the difference of 11 days.

This difference of 11 days will keep multiplying with every passing year. Since the Sun is important for us (our seasons are based on the Sun), we need to adjust Lunar Year विक्रम संवत with the Solar Year.

How is this adjustment done ?

If there is a difference of 11 days every year, then after 2.68 years the difference will be 11 X 2.68=29.5 days.....which is equal to one Lunar month.

This Extra Month is called अधिक मास

This particular year will have 13 months instead of 12

 

Notice the following dates-

Holi in 2021 was on March 29
Holi in 2022 is on March 18
Holi in 2023 will be on March 8

Notice that the date of Holi is advancing (getting pre-poned) by 11 days every year.

And, Holi in 2024 will be on March 25. This is because one extra month अधिक मास will get added. Holi will get delayed by one month (as per Gregorian Calendar)

 

We call Vikram Samvat as a Hindu Calendar. The first impression that we get is…. This is the calendar of Hindu religion (or Hinduism).

However, in 56 BCE when this calendar was created, Hinduism was the way of life of the people living in Indian subcontinent.It was not a religion.Indian sub-continent includes the present day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal. Vikram Samvat is followed in Nepal even today.

So, I believe, Vikram Samvat calendar विक्रम संवत पंचांग is a part of the culture of India.

Jai Hind !

Gaurav Negi