Following the adjustment, Dashain, the greatest festival in Nepal, will fall in Bhadra (Mid-August to mid-September), and people will be getting married even in Kartik, a Nepali month considered inauspicious for marriage.
A highly-placed source at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers told myrepublica.com that the cabinet meeting on Wednesday approved a report on adjusting the Bikram calendar.
Last month, the government decided to hold public discussions for replacing Bikram Sambat with the Gregorian calendar. 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 cabinet decision has come at a time when the government is considering switching into Gregorian calendar from Bikram calendar. Last month, the government decided to hold public discussions for replacing Bikram Sambat with the Gregorian calendar.
The cabinet decision was based on the report of the Festivals Reforms National Taskforce (FRNT) formed by then Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation in December 2006, said the source.
The 19-member taskforce comprising astrologers and religious figures, had recommended to the government to reform the calendar, saying that the earth´s rotation in its axis at an inclination of 23.5 degrees has resulted into a gain of one day every 72 years. There has been no adjustment for this in the calendar for the past 1,656 years. This means that the calendar is behind by 23 days.
Once the reformed calendar comes into effect, auspicious occasions will come 23 days earlier, according to the report. To adjust these days, the Nepali new year in 2067 BS will fall on Chaitra 1 (mid-March), which means that year 2066 BS will have 11 months only.
kiran@myrepublica.com
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