Adhik maas (contd.)

Incidentally, right now the adhik maas is going on. It is adhik Jesh.tha.
the regular Jesh.tha will follow next. so the current hindu year has 13
months. Vaishakh was the previous month. It ended about 2 weeks back. In
India, Buddha Poornima this year fell on the 2nd of May.

cheers.
___________________________________

On 5/28/07, P G Dave <pgd2507@...> wrote:
>
> Extremely informative.
>
> Incientally the Hindu calender also has an extra month every 2-1/2 years
> (approx.) and that is called adhik maas -- literally meaning extra month.
>
> metta.
> ___________________________________
>
>
> On 5/27/07, Ong Yong Peng <pali.smith@...> wrote:
> >
> > Dear friends,
> >
> > the following passage is an expansion of what I have written to a
> > friend and member of the group.
> >
> > When is Vesak?
> >
> > The exact date of Vesak can be confusing. The confusion is the result
> > of the many different calendars used across the world. In the past,
> > astronomers studied the movement of celestial objects in the sky, and
> > observed a pattern in it. The pattern, as they have recorded, slowly
> > evolved into a calendar. Becuase these studies were conducted more or
> > less independently, hence we have the various calendars in used today.
> >
> > According to the Tipitaka, Buddha was born, enlightened and obtained
> > final nibbana on the full-moon day of Vesakha. Hence, we call this day
> > Vesak Day. The word vesak comes from vesakha, which is derived from
> > Sanskrit vaishakha, the second month on the Hindu calendar. The Hindu
> > new year commences on the new-moon day of the month of Chaitra, which
> > falls between March and April on the Gregorian calendar. Other names
> > for Vesak Day include Wesak Day, Visakah Puja, Visakah Bucha, Buddha
> > Purnima (meaning 'full-moon'), Buddha Jayanti (meaning 'victory'), and
> > Buddha Day.
> >
> > Conventionally, we take Vesak Day as the full-moon day in the month of
> > May. However, the lunar month (29/30 days) is always shorter than the
> > calendar month (30/31 days, except February). Therefore, every few
> > years, we will find two full-moon days in May. This year (2007), we
> > have full-moon days on May 1 and 31.
> >
> > The World Buddhist Federation passed a resolution in 1950 that for
> > such cases, the first full-moon day in May will be Vesak Day. Based on
> > this, Malaysia and Sri Lanka set May 1 as Vesak Day. However, it is
> > argued, as in for 2007, that, traditionally, Vesak Day is considered
> > the full-moon day of the fourth lunar month on the Chinese calendar.
> > And according to the Chinese calendar in 2007, May 31 is the full-moon
> > day of the fourth lunar month. Based on this, Singapore set May 31 as
> > Vesak Day.
> >
> > There are generally three types of calendar: solar, lunar and lunisolar.
> >
> > The solar calendar is based on the revolution of the earth around the
> > sun, with no consideration of moon phases. Each revolution is one
> > complete seasonal cycle. However, we also measure time in terms of
> > days. And, unfortunately, the earth's complete revolution around the
> > sun takes slightly over 365 days. Therefore, we have to introduce an
> > extra day every four years in the month of February. The Gregorian
> > calendar used internationally is a solar calendar.
> >
> > A lunar calendar is a 12-month calendar based on the cyclic movement
> > of the moon, with no consideration of the solar cycle. The moon takes
> > 29.5 days to revolve around the earth. So, there are 354 days in a
> > year. A holiday celebrated based on a lunar calendar will fall 11 days
> > earlier each solar year. The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar.
> >
> > The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, i.e. for every two to
> > three years, an extra (intercalary) month is introduced to correct for
> > its deviation from the astronomical year. The Chinese calendar is
> > traditionally a lunisolar calendar, it is not an influence of modern
> > astronomy. As such the calculation of the intercalary month requires
> > complex astronomical knowledge, and based on this complex calculation,
> > the intercalary month may be placed anytime in a leap year. Hence,
> > there can be two fourth lunar months with full-moon days in a leap
> > year! When that happens, Vesak will be celebrated on the first of the
> > two fourth lunar months.
> >
> > Another point to note is that by following the Chinese calendar, Vesak
> > may fall outside May. For example, Vesak Day was celebrated on June 2
> > in 2004.
> >
> > In Thailand, Vesak Day falls on the full-moon day of the sixth lunar
> > month. If there are 13 full moons in a year, Vesak Day falls on the
> > full-moon day of the seventh lunar month.
> >
> > Vesak as the "triple-occasion" of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and
> > parinibbana is traditionally observed only in southern-transmission or
> > Theravada countries. The northern-transmission or Mahayana countries
> > traditionally celebrate the three occasions on three separate days.
> > For example, the Chinese marked the eighth day of the fourth lunar
> > month as the day of Buddha's birthday. Buddha's enlightenment and
> > parinibbana were marked on the eigth day of the twelfth month and the
> > fifteenth (full-moon) day of the fourth month respectively, in the
> > Chinese calendar.
> >
> > metta,
> > Yong Peng.
> >
> >
> >
>
>


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