Vishuddha Siddhanta Panjika
Encyclopedia
Vishuddha Siddhanta Panjika is a Panjika
Panjika
The panjika , is the Hindu astronomical almanac, published in Maithili, Assamese, Bengali and Oriya. In colloquial language it is called a ‘panji’. In other parts of India it is called a panchangam...

 (almanac
Almanac
An almanac is an annual publication that includes information such as weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, and tide tables, containing tabular information in a particular field or fields often arranged according to the calendar etc...

) that was first published in 1297 Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...

 year (1890 AD). Madhab Chandra Chattopadhyay of the then Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

 of undivided India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 was the first editor.

Why a new almanac?

The 19th century Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...

 almanacs though gave details of tithi
Tithi
In vedic timekeeping, a tithi is a lunar day, or the time it takes for the longitudinal angle between the moon and the sun to increase by 12°. Tithis begin at varying times of day and vary in duration from approximately 19 to approximately 26 hours. There are 30 tithis in each lunar month, named...

, nakshatra
Nakshatra
Nakshatra is the term for lunar mansion in Hindu astrology. A nakshatra is one of 27 sectors along the ecliptic...

 etc. were generally not in conformity with the actual position of planets in the sky. A true panjika
Panjika
The panjika , is the Hindu astronomical almanac, published in Maithili, Assamese, Bengali and Oriya. In colloquial language it is called a ‘panji’. In other parts of India it is called a panchangam...

 has to tally with the scientific observation. To meet this end, prominent astrologer
Astrologer
An astrologer practices one or more forms of astrology. Typically an astrologer draws a horoscope for the time of an event, such as a person's birth, and interprets celestial points and their placements at the time of the event to better understand someone, determine the auspiciousness of an...

s of that time viz., almanac reformist of Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

 Mahamahopadhyay Chandrashekhar Sinha Samanta, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Lokmanya Tilak –, was an Indian nationalist, teacher, social reformer and independence fighter who was the first popular leader of the Indian Independence Movement. The British colonial authorities derogatorily called the great leader "Father of the Indian unrest"...

 of Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...

, Western India, Scriptural scholars like Bapudev Shastri and Ketkar, experts like Kashi Madan Mohan Malaviya
Madan Mohan Malaviya
Madan Mohan Malaviya was an Indian educationist, and freedom fighter notable for his role in the Indian independence movement and his espousal of Hindu nationalism...

, Mahamahopadhyay Maheshchandra Nyayaratna, Sasadhar Tarkachudamani, Acharya
Acharya
In Indian religions and society, an acharya is a guide or instructor in religious matters; founder, or leader of a sect; or a highly learned man or a title affixed to the names of learned men...

 Yogesh Chandra Roy Vidyanidhi of Bengal advised the publication of Vishuddha Siddhanta Almanac.

Approval and adoption

Vishuddha Siddhanta Almanac is recognized by scholars of scriptures such as Deshikottama Dr Srijiv Nyayaratna, Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

 scholar Nirmal Chandra Lahiri, internationally known scientist Prof Megh Nad Saha, et al.

This almanac is approved and followed by Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati of Kanchi matha
Kanchi matha
The Kanchi math is a Hindu monastic institutionlocated in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, one of the fivepancha-bhUta-sthalas...

, Sri Tarakeshwar Math, worldwide Ramakrishna Math
Ramakrishna Math
Ramakrishna Math is a religious monastic order, considered part of the Hindu reform movements. It was set up by Swami Vivekananda to follow the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna...

 and Ramakrishna Mission
Ramakrishna Mission
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are twin organizations which form the core of a worldwide spiritual movement known as Ramakrishna Movement or Vedanta Movement. The Ramakrishna Mission is a philanthropic, volunteer organization founded by Ramakrishna's chief disciple Swami Vivekananda on...

, Satsanga Ashrama of Deoghar
Deoghar
Deoghar is the headquarters city of Deoghar District in the Santhal Parganas division of the state of Jharkhand, India. It is an important Hindu pilgrimage centre, having in Baidyanath Temple one of the twelve Shiva Jyothirlingams in India and also one of the 51 Shakti Peethas in India.-Origin of...

 and Other religious organisations.

Rashtriya panchang

The very fact that the calculations of the almanac are fully done with the help of computers show the accuracy of the renderings and therefore the timing of the puja and parvan
Parvan
Parvan may refer to:*Vasile Pârvan, Romanian historian and archaeologist*Parvān Province, Afghanistan*Parvan, a village in Targovishte Province, Bulgaria...

 for different occasions also are free from any mistake. Hence the Indian national calendar
Indian national calendar
The Indian national calendar is the official civil calendar in use in India. It is used, alongside the Gregorian calendar, by The Gazette of India, news broadcasts by All India Radio, and calendars and communications issued by the Government of India.The term may also ambiguously refer to the...

 (Rashtriya Panchang) published by the Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

 fully tallies with the almanac. However, the traditional school also has its validity. Because Jyotish Shastra itself is not astronomy, and it is based on the words of Parashara, Garga, Mantreshwara who never used computers or western astronomy. Further, the planetary positions of Jyotish-nakshatra, rashi-or rahu, Ketu etc. depend more on belief and assumptions than science.

What it contains

Vishuddha siddhanta panjika provides articles on astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...

 and astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

; besides, annual predictions for the nation on a variety of subjects ranging from agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 to politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...

, predictions on individual lagnas, and annual predictions on the basis of birth-stars. There are other regular sections like vedic months and dates from the Indian national calendar
Indian national calendar
The Indian national calendar is the official civil calendar in use in India. It is used, alongside the Gregorian calendar, by The Gazette of India, news broadcasts by All India Radio, and calendars and communications issued by the Government of India.The term may also ambiguously refer to the...

.

Daily declination of the Sun, equation of time, sidereal
Sidereal
Sidereal, of the stars, may refer to:* Measurements of time:** Sidereal time** Sidereal day** Sidereal month** Sidereal year* Sidereal period of an object orbiting a star* Sidereal astrology...

 time, planetary aspects, correct times of the eclipses, rising and setting times of the moon in different places, rising and setting times of the sun in Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

 and seven other cities, monthly description of the night sky and locations of the star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

s and planets with explanatory sky maps are also given. The dates of the main celebrations for the coming year are mentioned. An important addition is the dates of birth & passing away of many savants and saints of India irrespective of denominational adherence.

External links

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