Unraveling the Mysteries of Hindu New Year: A Scientific Explanation (SOSD article#7)

Many people ask why Hindus celebrate their new year apart from the January-December New Year cycle. Well, the reason behind this is not just mythology, but in fact science; and today’s article will enlighten you all on the same. After a lot of gaps in writing and posting articles, I am back with another interesting article for my fellow readers. As we begin the new year 2081, I begin a new routine of posting 1 article every month on my blog. After being occupied with loads of work, focusing on making a stable career, and working on my work-life balance, I was not disciplined enough to write and post or get back to various readers asking me to enlighten them on basic or even advanced scientific stuff. And thus, I decided that no other day would be better than today, to decide the timeline of posting articles for you all. I hope you all will gain knowledge and enjoy reading articles on my blog. Thanks for your constant support!

Cosmological and Astronomical Evidence of ‘Gudhi Padwa’:

Gudhi Padwa/Ugadi/Chetti Chand, etc. are a few of the commonly known names in India for the 1st day of ‘Chaitra’ month as per Sanatan Dharma. This day marks the beginning of the Hindu calendar. In Sanatan Dharma, there are a number of Puranas or informative books that have detailed history and their pieces of evidence; one of which is the Bramha Purana. According to Bramha Puran, Lord Bramha created Earth. The word ‘Padwa’ in ‘Gudhi Padwa’ has a Sanskrit origin, which translates to the first and main day of the moon phases called ‘Pratipada’. On this day, the equator intersects with the meridian hemisphere. The axis of Earth is tilted in a way that the Northern Hemisphere receives the highest amount of solar energy. It is also the last day of the waning of the Moon and the first day of the waxing of the Moon. 

Geographical Evidence:

Just as in life, you can only achieve something when you let go of the remaining things, in the spring season, the trees start shedding leaves to form a completely new and much better tree. Farmers in India begin planting crops at the beginning of Spring, which is considered as the beginning of agricultural activities.

Biological Evidence:

Hindus offer Neem and Mango leaves to gods and consume the same later on. This is done because both the leaves are proven to have plenty of medicinal properties. They work as natural anti-bacterial agents, anti-fungal agents, and anti-viral agents, and they also possess anti-toxin properties. Diseases like chickenpox, viral fevers, etc. are on the rise as spring begins, and consuming these leaves is significant and has preventative properties, by preparing the immune system to fight against the pathogens. Jaggery too, is mixed along with these leaves, to lighten the bitter taste of neem leaves. Apart from this, jaggery also increases hemoglobin in blood and energizes the body. 

So this was all about the remarkable beginnings of Hindu New Year...

It is not that Hindus do not celebrate other New Years or disrespect other traditions, but as respect goes both ways and so does belief, I strongly believe that before we judge other’s traditions or cultural beliefs, we should be wise enough to know the reasons behind them, which in case of Hinduism is mostly scientific. Sanatan Dharma is not just a religion but in fact Science. Now that I have given you several reasons from not one, but three scientific domains, I hope it will change your perspective in a positive way.

PS: Often in life, we question and suspect our roots, we label our history as mythology, and as we continue this for many generations, we let go of various facts that our lives and surroundings are based upon. Questioning things is good, but only up to a justified point. Every coin has two sides and if we fail to know the other side of the traditions we follow, by labeling it mythology and irrelevant, we fail at knowing our roots. Being open-minded and having a broad perspective is important. With this, I end another article in my series, the Science Behind Sanatan Dharma.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this article and will stay tuned for the upcoming ones. Until then, wishing you a very Happy Gudhi Padwa/Ugadi/Chetti Chaand and an amazing New Year!!

- Rachna Jadhav

@theresilientresearcher