The Date of celebrating New Year in different South Indian States!

Have you ever wondered why different states in the South of India celebrate new year on different days? There is an astrological as well as a traditional mindset associated mostly with respect to the sunrise/sunset of the day. In all the Indian festivals the sidereal year is adopted but the basis may either be the solar calendar or lunar calendar. Let's take a look at the dates in which new year is being celebrated in these Southern states.

Telugu and Karnataka New Year (Ugadi/Yugadi):
This is based on the lunar calendar which involves the relationship of both Sun and Moon. Ugadi occurs once the moon passes the Sun placed in Pisces (Meena) Rasi signifying the beginning of a new lunar month Chaitra. In other words we can also say the 1st tithi which gets formed viz Pratipada (first day of the bright fortnight of a new Hindu month) that occurs after Ammavasya. In the year 2019, Pratipada Tithi occured in the afternoon of the 5th of April but since sunrise needs to be prevailing only the next day 6th of April was considered for celebration of the new year. However if Pratipada Tithi prevails on 2 days of sunrise, the first day is considered. One thing to note with regard to Ugadi is it can take place any day from the mid of March to the mid of April.

Tamil New Year (Puthandu or Varsha Pirappu):
This is based on the solar calendar and involves the presence of Sun exclusively. The moon's position does not have a bearing in the scheme of things. It takes place with the Sun's ingress in to the sign of Aries (Mesha) signifying the beginning of the first day of the tamil month of Chithirai. It is also termed as Mesha Sankranthi. Astrologically it can also be said that Sun's entry point into the first constellation of Ashwini marks the start of a new year. It is also said to be the first day of Thai indicating the marking of harvest season. In Tamil Nadu, if the event occurs before Sunset it is considered as occurring on the same day however if it happens after Sunset hours (roughly on the mark of 6pm and above), then it is only celebrated on the next day. Varsha Pirappu always takes place in and around the mid of April depending on the Panchang being employed.

Kerala New Year (Vishu):
This follows the same logic as the Tamil New year and occurs with the sun's entry into the zodiac sign of Mesha (Aries). However the only difference being the day of sunrise needs to be prevalent and hence it occurs a day later than the Tamil New Year. This year it took place on the 15th of Apr 2019 and the reason for that is as per Kerala Panchangam, Sun entered Aries in the afternoon of 14th April 2019. During sun rise time on the 14th Apr 2019 it was still in Pisces and so the first day of sunrise after Sun's entry into Aries marks the celebration of Vishu.

Hence to summarize the above information briefly;
Telugu/Karnataka New Year:
Calendar - Lunar Calendar
Month - Chaitra (start of Pratipada Tithi - first day of Shukla Paksha)
Sunrise/Sunset - Sunrise needs to be prevalent on day of Tithi formation, if not considered next day.

Tamil New Year:
Calendar - Solar Calendar
Month - Chithirai (entry point of Sun in Mesha - Aries)
Sunrise/Sunset - At least sunset needs to be present on the day of Sun entering Mesha, if not considered in the next day.

Kerala New Year:
Calendar - Solar Calendar
Month - Chitra (entry point of Sun in Mesha - Aries)
Sunrise/Sunset - Sunrise needs to be prevalent on the day of Sun entering Mesha, if not considered in the next day.

Joyous Jotheyali!

Some compositions are simply sheer joy and Jotheyali fondly falls into that exquisite category. It just caresses off in blitzkrieg fashion right from start to finish. The turbo galloping pace does not hinder it from being lardy-dardy which it so crystal clearly is.

Though this song has a version in every regional linguistic, it's the original Kannada version that takes the cake. The lyrics meld so well with the tune and the synchronization is magical. This one's an evergreen timeless classic and makes me reminisce the good ol' Bangalore days when invariably every bus used to hoot this in full blast.

And from a technical perspective, the pallavi largely employs a hitherto unknown janya raga called 'Katyayani’ which is a derivative of Natabhairavi. You would also notice an eerie resemblance to 'Shivaranjani' with just the Dhaivatam being different. However as it takes off, lustre is added in the form of plenty of alien notes which is a signature of IR.

Do also observe the rivetting trills (rapid alternation between adjacent notes) at ’Ooooo Endha Mathadidhe' and charismatic chromatics (three or more consecutive notes played back or forth) gliding along nonchalantly. All in all makes for a thrilling glissading adventure.

I just tried a wild shot at a couple of portions of this song. These are numbers totally beyond my reach but ultimately it's just the bliss of having attempted it. As the saying goes it's 'Nothing but joy' at the end of the day.

Note: From an astrology point of view, if one is interested to know what planetary positions help in playing the veena, I would say Jupiter and Saturn are most important. The reason is because you make you use of the index finger and middle finger a lot to play the instrument. The mount ruling the index finger happens to be Jupiter and the mount ruling the middle finger happens to be Saturn. Ideally both these planets need to connected with the 3rd house which is known for skills, activities performed by the hand. In my own case both Jupiter and Saturn happen to have aspect on my 3rd house of Leo. Strength depends on where these 2 planets are placed and how they are influencing your 3rd house and also not to forget the zodiac sign in which your 3rd house is falling into. 

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Joyous Jotheyali! Some compositions are simply sheer joy and Jotheyali fondly falls into that exquisite category. It just caresses off in blitzkrieg fashion right from start to finish. The turbo galloping pace does not hinder it from being lardy-dardy which it so crystal clearly is. Though this song has a version in every regional linguistic, it's the original Kannada version that takes the cake. The lyrics meld so well with the tune and the synchronization is magical. This one's an evergreen timeless classic and makes me reminisce the good ol' Bangalore days when invariably every bus used to hoot this in full blast. And from a technical perspective, the pallavi largely employs a hitherto unknown janya raga called 'Katyayani’ which is a derivative of Natabhairavi. You would also notice an eerie resemblance to 'Shivaranjani' with just the Dhaivatam being different. However as it takes off, lustre is added in the form of plenty of alien notes which is a signature of IR. Do also observe the rivetting trills (rapid alternation between adjacent notes) at ’Ooooo Endha Mathadidhe' and charismatic chromatics (three or more consecutive notes played back or forth) gliding along nonchalantly. All in all makes for a thrilling glissading adventure. I just tried a wild shot at a couple of portions of this song. These are numbers totally beyond my reach but ultimately it's just the bliss of having attempted it. As the saying goes it's 'Nothing but joy' at the end of the day. #jotheyali #kannada #tamil #hindi #geetha #shankarnag #IR #SPB #music #ugadi #bangalore #1981

A post shared by Rajiv Shankar (@rajiv_revel) on Apr 7, 2019 at 2:39am PDT