Bhaskarabda: A Luni-Solar Calendar

Published: 25th Oct, 2021

Context

Assam government has approved Bhaskarabda, a period counted from the date of ascension by the great Kamrup king Kumar Bhaskar Varma as an official calendar and the Saka and Gregorian charts.

What is Bhaskarabda?

Bhaskarabda can be understood as a period calculated from the date of the ascension of the 7th-century local ruler Bhaskar Varman.
It is based on both phases of the moon and the solar year.
The gap between Basaskarabda and Gregorian is 593 years.
It all started when Baskaravarman was crowned ruler of the Kamrupa kingdom.

Kamrup king Kumar Bhaskar Varma

Kamrup, which was also known as Pragjyotish in the mythological era, has been recognised as the first historical kingdom of Assam and was the most advanced territory under his reign.
Bhaskar Varma was a contemporary to the north Indian emperor Harshavardhan, another celebrated ruler of
Both enjoyed political ties with mutual respect.

Kamrupa kingdom

Kamarupa was a typical Hindu kingdom of old.
It now designates a district of Assam, was formerly applied to the whole of the eastern province of the ancient Bharatavarsha.
It is synonymous with Pragjyotish which, however, seems to have been the older appellation for the country.
In the Ramayana and Mahabharata the country is called Pragjyotish, and its ruler, the Pragjyotisheswara.
The term Kamarupa is first made use of in some of the Puranas and Tantras, which are admittedly of a later date than the great epics.

Use of the calendar by Assam

Currently, the official Assam government official calendar uses the Saka calendar and the Gregorian calendar.

However, the Basquearabda calendar will be used from now on.

Type of Calendars

Solar: Any dating system based on the seasonal year of approximately 365 1/4 days, the time it takes the Earth to revolve once around the Sun.
Lunar: Any dating system based on a year that contains synodic moons - that is, complete cycles of phases of the Moon.
Luni-Solar: The luni solar calendar month is a month but the solar years were used in early Middle Eastern civilizations and Greece.

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR UPSC IAS

Bhaskarabda: A Luni-Solar Calendar