Every Pongal day I used to wonder about the significance of the celebration - what are we celebrating exactly?
Some say it is the start of Utharayan - but then it must be Dec 23. Why do we celebrate Pongal on Jan 15 then?
Some say it is the day sun enters Makaram zodiac sign - that is correct ,this happens on Jan 15, but I don't know why that is an important event to celebrate.
Some websites say it is the day light starts coming from North. This is wrong. Kerala has to wait till Vishu for that.
I think I get it. It must be a celebration of the winter solstice. It needs to be celebrated, because the days of elongating nights are ending and days of elongating days are starting.
This happens on Dec 23 - then why are we celebrating on Jan 15? Here is my guess:
Dec 23 was Makaram 1 approximately 1500 years back. (Makaram 1 is the day Sun enters Makaram zodiac sign). We started celebrating this on Makaram 1.
But then, because of wobble of Earth's axis, start of Makaram moved. For example, in 2019 Pongal moved from Jan 14 to Jan 15, and in another ~2000 years it will be on Feb 15 ...
And we still celebrate it on start of Makaram, but the intention was to celebrate on Dec 23, or 25, which is Christmas, probably a pagan celebration converted to Jesus birthday
Every 72 years Makaram 1 will move away by a day. After 26000 years Makaram one will be back on Jan 14. 26000 is the cycle of wobble of earth axis. Also, because Makaram 1 was supposed to be Utharayanam per my theory, the year this was established must be the year in which Makaram 1 was on Dec 23. That means we have shifted 21 days since then. So, this practice was established ~1500 ((21*26000)/365) years ago.
Same misalignment of date exists for Vishu. Vishu is supposed to celebrate spring equinox
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Quick take on explaining the calendars:
The Hindu calendar counts 12 months by dividing the sky into 12 sections called zodiacs. We can visualize this by standing in a room, imagining the walls being the sky. Divide the 360 degree walls around you into 12 sections. Now keep a chair in the center of the room as sun. Now, you (earth) can go around the sun. As you go around the sun slowly, you see that the section of the sky against which you see the sun is changing. The section of the sky you see the sun against at any particular time defines the month of the year in the Hindu calendar. The first day of a month is the day you see the sun against a particular zodiac for the first time
Now, on any particular day, imagine the earth rotating on its axis (you can imagine this by you rotating yourself without moving - standing in place - you see the chair appear and disappear - which is the sun rise and sun set. You can ask another person to slowly go around you, this person will be the moon. It takes 28 days for the moon to go around you. So, as you rotate standing at one place, you see the moon rise against a different portion of the sky everyday - repeating every 28 days. Now, divide the sky around you into 28 sections. Every day of the 28-day-lunar-month, you see the moon rise against one of these 28 sections. The section of the sky against which you see the moon rise on a particular day is the DAY for the Hindu calendar. The day is named after a prominent star in that section of the sky.
So, that is the quickie on the Hindu calendar. This calendar, thus, just keeps track of the position of the earth around the sun through out the year
Pongal is on Makaram 1. As of today, 4/13/2022, Makaram 1 is approximately winter in the Northern hemisphere
We have to add the tilt of the earths axis to our model. As you yourself are the earth in our model, you can imagine that you were standing with a tilt during the above going around the sun / going around in place that you did. Mark a clock or something in the wall against which you see the sun as Makaram 1. Because tilting yourself is a tough exercise, let us hold a toy doll in our hand and tilt the doll. Tilt the doll with the head away from the chair when you are seeing the sun against the clock. Let us say the head models the northern hemisphere. The head is now farther from the sun than your feet, thus we have winter in the northern hemisphere and summer in the southern hemisphere.
Note that when the earth goes around the sun in an year, the tilt is constant. So, when you go around the sun, and is half way around the sun, seeing the point in the sky opposite where the clock was, tilt will be such that the doll's head is closer to the chair - meaning, you do not change the way you hold the doll as you go around the sun. At this point around the chair, the head being closer to the sun than the feet, we have summer in the northern hemisphere.
Now we need to add precession to our model. Let us go back to the point around the chair where we were we saw the sun against the clock. We are on the day of Makaram 1 again. Now, hold the doll at its waist (still tilted), and rotate the dolls head along a horizontal circle - as if you are trying to make a 3D hourglass using the doll - That is what the earth's axis does in 26000 years! That means, after 13000 years, when you stand against the clock, the head of the doll will be nearer to the sun than the feet - that means we will have summer on Makaram 1 in 13000 years!
Similarly, if the spring equinox is on Medam 1 in 2022, after 13000 years it will be the autumn equinox on Medam 1
Basically, the Hindu calendar months do not stay the same with respect to the seasons over a cycle of 26000 years of precession of the earths axis
The Gregorian calendar takes care of this - The northern hemisphere will have summer in June ALWAYS. This is because the Gregorian calendar does not care about the stars - it calls it a year when the earth has completed one revolution around the sun in 365.242 days. (The 365.24 days leads to 1 extra day every 4 year, but that is a little too much because of the 0.01 error, so, you do not add a day on the years ending with 00 except if the year is also divisible by 400 - so we added 97 days in 400 years. 97/400=0.2425)
The Hindu calendar year (which in fact is a sidereal year) is 20 minutes shorter than the Gregorian calendar year (which is a tropical year)
Going back to our model, what that means is this: When we have completed one revolution around the sun (in 365.24 days), we have actually not reached the point where the clock on the wall is against the sun, we are still 20 minutes away from it. That means, every Gregorian calendar year, the Makaram 1 is going to happen 20 minutes after the Gregorian year ends. So, Makaram 1 is going to happen 1 day later in 72 years. And 365 days later in 26000 years, when we begin the next cycle of precession!
Some say it is the start of Utharayan - but then it must be Dec 23. Why do we celebrate Pongal on Jan 15 then?
Some say it is the day sun enters Makaram zodiac sign - that is correct ,this happens on Jan 15, but I don't know why that is an important event to celebrate.
Some websites say it is the day light starts coming from North. This is wrong. Kerala has to wait till Vishu for that.
I think I get it. It must be a celebration of the winter solstice. It needs to be celebrated, because the days of elongating nights are ending and days of elongating days are starting.
This happens on Dec 23 - then why are we celebrating on Jan 15? Here is my guess:
Dec 23 was Makaram 1 approximately 1500 years back. (Makaram 1 is the day Sun enters Makaram zodiac sign). We started celebrating this on Makaram 1.
But then, because of wobble of Earth's axis, start of Makaram moved. For example, in 2019 Pongal moved from Jan 14 to Jan 15, and in another ~2000 years it will be on Feb 15 ...
And we still celebrate it on start of Makaram, but the intention was to celebrate on Dec 23, or 25, which is Christmas, probably a pagan celebration converted to Jesus birthday
Every 72 years Makaram 1 will move away by a day. After 26000 years Makaram one will be back on Jan 14. 26000 is the cycle of wobble of earth axis. Also, because Makaram 1 was supposed to be Utharayanam per my theory, the year this was established must be the year in which Makaram 1 was on Dec 23. That means we have shifted 21 days since then. So, this practice was established ~1500 ((21*26000)/365) years ago.
Same misalignment of date exists for Vishu. Vishu is supposed to celebrate spring equinox
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quick take on explaining the calendars:
The Hindu calendar counts 12 months by dividing the sky into 12 sections called zodiacs. We can visualize this by standing in a room, imagining the walls being the sky. Divide the 360 degree walls around you into 12 sections. Now keep a chair in the center of the room as sun. Now, you (earth) can go around the sun. As you go around the sun slowly, you see that the section of the sky against which you see the sun is changing. The section of the sky you see the sun against at any particular time defines the month of the year in the Hindu calendar. The first day of a month is the day you see the sun against a particular zodiac for the first time
Now, on any particular day, imagine the earth rotating on its axis (you can imagine this by you rotating yourself without moving - standing in place - you see the chair appear and disappear - which is the sun rise and sun set. You can ask another person to slowly go around you, this person will be the moon. It takes 28 days for the moon to go around you. So, as you rotate standing at one place, you see the moon rise against a different portion of the sky everyday - repeating every 28 days. Now, divide the sky around you into 28 sections. Every day of the 28-day-lunar-month, you see the moon rise against one of these 28 sections. The section of the sky against which you see the moon rise on a particular day is the DAY for the Hindu calendar. The day is named after a prominent star in that section of the sky.
So, that is the quickie on the Hindu calendar. This calendar, thus, just keeps track of the position of the earth around the sun through out the year
Pongal is on Makaram 1. As of today, 4/13/2022, Makaram 1 is approximately winter in the Northern hemisphere
We have to add the tilt of the earths axis to our model. As you yourself are the earth in our model, you can imagine that you were standing with a tilt during the above going around the sun / going around in place that you did. Mark a clock or something in the wall against which you see the sun as Makaram 1. Because tilting yourself is a tough exercise, let us hold a toy doll in our hand and tilt the doll. Tilt the doll with the head away from the chair when you are seeing the sun against the clock. Let us say the head models the northern hemisphere. The head is now farther from the sun than your feet, thus we have winter in the northern hemisphere and summer in the southern hemisphere.
Note that when the earth goes around the sun in an year, the tilt is constant. So, when you go around the sun, and is half way around the sun, seeing the point in the sky opposite where the clock was, tilt will be such that the doll's head is closer to the chair - meaning, you do not change the way you hold the doll as you go around the sun. At this point around the chair, the head being closer to the sun than the feet, we have summer in the northern hemisphere.
Now we need to add precession to our model. Let us go back to the point around the chair where we were we saw the sun against the clock. We are on the day of Makaram 1 again. Now, hold the doll at its waist (still tilted), and rotate the dolls head along a horizontal circle - as if you are trying to make a 3D hourglass using the doll - That is what the earth's axis does in 26000 years! That means, after 13000 years, when you stand against the clock, the head of the doll will be nearer to the sun than the feet - that means we will have summer on Makaram 1 in 13000 years!
Similarly, if the spring equinox is on Medam 1 in 2022, after 13000 years it will be the autumn equinox on Medam 1
Basically, the Hindu calendar months do not stay the same with respect to the seasons over a cycle of 26000 years of precession of the earths axis
The Gregorian calendar takes care of this - The northern hemisphere will have summer in June ALWAYS. This is because the Gregorian calendar does not care about the stars - it calls it a year when the earth has completed one revolution around the sun in 365.242 days. (The 365.24 days leads to 1 extra day every 4 year, but that is a little too much because of the 0.01 error, so, you do not add a day on the years ending with 00 except if the year is also divisible by 400 - so we added 97 days in 400 years. 97/400=0.2425)
The Hindu calendar year (which in fact is a sidereal year) is 20 minutes shorter than the Gregorian calendar year (which is a tropical year)
Going back to our model, what that means is this: When we have completed one revolution around the sun (in 365.24 days), we have actually not reached the point where the clock on the wall is against the sun, we are still 20 minutes away from it. That means, every Gregorian calendar year, the Makaram 1 is going to happen 20 minutes after the Gregorian year ends. So, Makaram 1 is going to happen 1 day later in 72 years. And 365 days later in 26000 years, when we begin the next cycle of precession!
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