A simplified arithmetical Hindu calendar (panchanga) for Emacs.
This package provides traditional Hindu calendars (solar and lunar) using arithmetic based on the mean motions of the Sun and Moon. It calculates tithi and nakshatra. It provides both tropical (sāyana) and sidereal (nirayana/Chitrapaksha ayanāmsa) variants. Lunar calendars can be chosen between amānta or purnimānta.
This package is available on MELPA, do M-x package-install RET hindu-calendar.
If you want to install it manually (example):
git clone https://github.com/bdsatish/hindu-calendar ~/.emacs.d/and add these lines your ~/.emacs (or equivalent init file):
(add-to-list 'load-path "~/.emacs.d/hindu-calendar/")
(require 'hindu-calendar)
(hindu-calendar-keybindings) ; Optional key bindingsAll of the functions can be called interactively or programmatically.
| Calendar type | Function/command |
|---|---|
| Sidereal lunar | M-x hindu-calendar-sidereal-lunar |
| Tropical lunar | M-x hindu-calendar-tropical-lunar |
| Sidereal solar | M-x hindu-calendar-sidereal-solar |
| Tropical solar | M-x hindu-calendar-tropical-solar |
| Nakshatra (sidereal) | M-x hindu-calendar-asterism |
If you are not sure which one to use, then start with the first one:
(hindu-calendar-sidereal-lunar)
All of these functions accept year, month and date as arguments. If none are given, then today's values are used.
ELISP> (hindu-calendar-sidereal-lunar 2030 6 21)
"Jyaishtha-K06, 5131"
ELISP> (hindu-calendar-tropical-lunar 2030 6 21)
"Ashadha-K06, 5131"
ELISP> (hindu-calendar-sidereal-solar 2030 6 21)
"Jyaishtha-07, 5131"
ELISP> (hindu-calendar-tropical-solar 2030 6 21)
"Jyaishtha-31, 5131"
ELISP> (hindu-calendar-asterism 2030 6 21)
"Satabhishaj"
S and K denote ṡukla-pakṣa and kṛṣṇa-pakṣa respectively. For example,
K06 above means kṛṣṇa-pakṣa-ṣaṣṭhī. Years are counted as elapsed Kali-yuga
(gatakali). Negative years are supported too, as per proleptic Gregorian
calendar.
The lunar calendars by default follow amānta (or amāvāsyānta) scheme, i.e., a month ends on new-moon day. This is the scheme used mostly in the non-Hindi speaking parts of India. Much of North India uses pūrṇimānta, i.e., a month ends on full-moon day. See here for explanation.
All the below options can be customized via M-x customize-group RET hindu-calendar.
By default, the month names use "Chaitra", Vaisakha, etc. Other options are:
"Mesha"for Mesha, Vrishabha, etc. which are zodiacal names."Madhu"for Madhu, Madhava, etc. which are ancient Vedic names."Kesava"for Kesava, Narayana, etc. which are the twelve names of Lord Vishnu."Dhata"for Dhātā, Aryamā, etc. which are the names of twelve Ādityas."Baisakha"as first month of new solar year, as in Bengal, Assam, Odisha, etc.
Customize variable hindu-calendar-month-type to one of the above.
By default, the years are counted as elapsed "Kali"-yuga years. Other options are:
"Vikrama"for Vikrama (or Bikram) samvat, whose epoch is 57 BCE."Saka"for Salivahana saka, whose epoch is 78 CE."Kali"for elapsed Kali varsha, whose epoch is 3102 BCE (i.e., -3101)."Bengali"for Bengali san, whose epoch is 593 CE.
Customize variable hindu-calendar-epoch-type to one of the above.
By default, "amanta" new-moon based lunar calendar is used. Customize variable
hindu-calendar-lunar-type to "purnimanta" for full-moon based reckoning.
Here are some typical combinations:
| Category | hindu-calendar- |
hindu-calendar-month-type |
hindu-calendar-epoch-type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian national calendar | tropical-solar | chaitra | saka |
| Kannadiga, Marathi, Telugu | sidereal-lunar | chaitra | saka |
| Gujarati | sidereal-lunar | chaitra | vikrama (kārttikādi) |
| Tamizhan | sidereal-solar | chaitra | saka, kali |
| Malayali | sidereal-solar | mesha | kollam |
| Bengali | sidereal-solar | baisakha | bengali |
| Odia | sidereal-solar | baisakha | bengali, vilayati |
| Nepali, Punjabi | sidereal-solar | baisakha | vikrama |
| Rest of India (purnimanta) | sidereal-lunar | chaitra | vikrama |
| Vedic (Vajasaneyi/Taittiriya) | tropical-lunar | madhu | N/A |
Of course, each language has its own names for the months (e.g., Agraha(ya)n, Margazhi, etc. for Margasirsa) but it is hoped that the above is indicative enough.
It is also integrated with Emacs' calendar. Type M-x calendar to open-up 3-month
calendar view. Move cursor (point) over any date you want. Type p H (uppercase H)
to print Hindu calendar in the echo area. Here's an example with settings for
someone in Mathura or Varanasi, where Purnimanta/Vikrama era is the norm:
The tropical solar calendar has 29 to 32 days depending on the month. Normally, six months from Vaishkha onwards have 31 days and the rest six have 30 days, but this pattern is not fixed and changes yearly. There is no concept of a 'leap' year.
This program is about as accurate as your traditional siddhantic panchangas. That is, it differs by a maximum of ±1 lunar day (tithi) or ±1 solar day or ±1 nakshatra compared to the true values. Though rare, an adhika-māsa (leap month) can be off by ±1 month too. Any dates in the range of ±5000 years are supported.
Calendrical calculations are of two types: arithmetical and astronomical. Arithmetical calendars are simpler to understand (and implement!) because they use mean motion (i.e. average values) of the Sun and Moon. They are crude approximations to the true motion, used by astronomical calendars.
The biggest advantage of arithmetical calendars is that they can be computed independent of location, by assuming a reasonable time of sunrise (e.g. 6:00 A.M.). Astronomical calendars change their dates based on one's location and sunrise timings. The Python program drik-panchanga is astronomical and thus gives best accuracy.
Yes, many. Please report a new issue.
By submitting any snippet of code to this project, you agree with the Developer Certificate of Origin by adding a line:
Signed-off-by: Anamika Ashok <[email protected]>
using your real name. Use git commit -s to do this automatically.
Copyright (C) B.D.Satish. GNU Affero GPL v3 (or later).
The so-called "Vedic astrology" has no basis in the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharata or Ramayana. It is a fringe science of Hinduism. The original Vedanga Jyotisha (~1200 BCE) and Surya Siddhanta (~400 CE) are purely astronomical.