2066 BS to be of 12 months

KATHMANDU, March 15: Despite a government decision to shorten the Nepali Bikram calendar by a month, making the 2066 Bikram Sambat only 11-month long, a government committee responsible for making Bikram Sambat calendar has decided to make the year 12-month long as usual. [break]

• Related News: 2066 BS to have 11 months only

The decision of Nepal Panchanga Nirnayak Samiti (Nepal Calendar Decision Committee) has cleared the confusion about whether the next Nepali year will have the month of Chaitra (mid-March to mid-April).



Dr Madhav Bhattarai, president of the 7-member Samiti (which also has three invited members), told myrepublica.com that it took the crucial decision last week and it has the government has already been notified about its decision.



While approving recommendations made by the government-formed Festivals Reforms National Taskforce (FRNT) led by Hari Narayan Malla, a meeting of the Council of Ministers had decided on December 31, 2008 to make 2066 BS only 11-month long. The government had informed the Samiti about its decision only three weeks later.





"While making calendars, we have to count each second," said Dr Bhattarai. "In case of 11-month year, how can we adjust the gap of whole one month?" He said nobody can control the 12 zodiac (rashi) signs according to the lunar movement. "The zodiac sign of the month of Falgun is Kumbha. How can we skip the another sign, Meen (which falls on the month of Chaitra), and go to Mesh? We would greatly appreciate if someone can give us a formula to go about this."



Dr Bhattarai, however, said it is not a protest against the government decision. "Ours is an independent committee though its members are appointed by the government," he said. "This is not something to be done through a political decision."



Bikram Sambat is the official calendar of Nepal. Established by Indian emperor Vikramaditya who lived 102 BC to 15 AD, the calendar is based on ancient Hindu tradition. Bikram Sambat is 56.7 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar. Its first month is Baisakh (mid-April). The Maoist-led government is considering switching Nepal into Gregorian calendar from Bikram calendar.



If the month of Chaitra is removed, argues Bhattarai, there will be a big problem determining our festivals and other religious dates (tithis).



The Samiti decision comes after holding a number of discussions and debates on the issue by involving government representatives, astrologers, experts, intellectuals and other stakeholders. "We took the decision on the basis of recommendations from those discussions," he said, adding that the government hadn´t consulted the Samiti prior to taking the decision.



The government decision to make the 2066 BS one month shorter has, however, already affected making the calendar for the year. "We normally used to pass the calendar for the upcoming year in January," said Bhattarai. "The new calendars will come to the market in about two weeks considering amount of time required for printing the calendars, with the problem of load-shedding involved."



However, Hari Narayan Malla of FRNT is still in favour of 11-month year in 2066 BS. "Even after the change, the month of Chaitra remains as usual according to religious dates (tithi)," Malla told Nepal Television. "The tithis that fall on Chaitra are long been pushed to Baishak and it will continue." He has argued that the change wouldn´t affect tithis anyway.



tilak@myrepublica.com

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2066 BS to have 11 months only