Roosterman No . 11 ; January , 2012
Origin Of New Year
N ew Year is the world ' s most popularly celebrated festival . Perhaps , everybody would like to know how these celebrations began , from where it originated and what is so important about the festival . Let ' s give you an insight to the origin of this grand event in a brief form .
Origin of New Year dates back to the era of emperors . They thought of celebrating a special day which should dot a day for beginning and end of the year . First New Year celebrations were noticed in Mesopotamia around 2000 years . It was celebrated at the time of Equinox in mid-March by the Egyptians , Persians and Phoenicians while Greeks celebrated it on winter solstice .
Ancient New Year Calendar First New Year celebrations were noticed in Mesopotamia around 2000 years . It was celebrated at the time of Equinox in mid-March by the Egyptians , Persians and Phoenicians while Greeks celebrated it on winter solstice . As per the ancient Roman calendar New Year fell on March 1 . This calendar just had ten months and March was the first month of the year . The calendar originated by the cycles of the moon , beginning in spring and ending with autumn planting .
January 1- an Official Date of New Year Celebrations The Roman emperor Julius Caesar officially declared January 1 to be a New Year in 46 B . C . Romans worshiped God Janus who had two faces , one looking forward and the other looking backward . The month of January was named after this Roman God and it gave an idea to the emperor to establish January as a gate to the New Year . It is said Caesar celebrated January 1 - New Year by ordering the revolutionary Jewish forces to route back .
People began New Year celebrations on January 1 after many years . They ritualized the beginning of the year by acting and re-enacting the world of the past before peace proliferated . People learned January as first month of the year and with this the tradition of following Julian calendar .
Abolition of Roman New Year Date In the medieval period , pagan festivals were given more importance and March 25 was announced as the beginning of the New Year . March 25 was called the Annunciation Day as on this day Mary got the news that she should be impregnated . Later , the King of England ensured that Jesus ' birth December 25 should be commemorated as New Year .
Inclusion of Two Calendar Months It was Numa Pompilius , the second king of Rome who divided the year into twelve lunar months by adding the months of January and February . The New Year was shifted to January as it marked the beginning of the civil years in Rome . But this was not fully accepted by the people of Rome and they continued celebrating in the month of March only .
Gregorian Calendar About 500 years later , Pope Gregory XIII abolished the old Julian calendar and introduced Gregorian calendar which comprised of a leap year after every four years to maintain balance between seasons and calendar . Finally , in 1582 , Gregorian calendar was set to celebrate New Year on the first day of January .
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