LUNAR NEW YEAR – Definition And The Countries That Celebrate It
LUNAR NEW YEAR – In this topic we will now discuss the definition of the Lunar New Year and the following countries that celebrate it.
Definition
It is an event celebrating the start of the calendar year with months coordinating the cycles of the moon, hence, the term “Lunar”. The calendar it based on can be a purely lunar calendar which is based on the monthly cycles of the moon phases only, or a lunisolar calendar, which is based on both the phases of the moon and the time of the solar year.
Countries
Here are the countries or areas that celebrate the new year based on the Chinese lunisolar calendar:
- China – Chinese New Year
- Japan – Japanese New Year
- Korea – Korean New Year or Seollal
- Mongolia – Mongolian New Year or Tsagaan Sar which can be a month later because of leap months.
- Tibet – Tibetan New Year or Losar which can be a month later because of leap months.
- Vietnam – Vietnamese New Year or Tết
The following countries celebrate new year based on their localized unisolar calendars and are influenced by Indian tradition:
- India
- Deccan people – Ugadi and Gudi Padwa
- Meitei people – Meitei Cheiraoba
- Kashmiri Pandits – Kashmiri New Year or Navreh
- Bali, Inbdonesia – Nyepi
These countries or regions celebrate this event based on the solar cycle but are part of the local lunisolar calendar system:
- Burma – Burmese New Year or Thingyan which falls in April but is not the first day of the Burmese lunisolar year.
- Cambodia – Cambodian New Yearr or Chaul Chnam Thmey
- Laos – Lao New Year
- Nepal – Nepali New Year
- Odisha, India – Odia New Year or Pana Sankranti
- Sri Lanka and Tamil – Sinhala and Tamil New Year
- Thailand – Thai New Year or Songkran
- Bengali – Bengali New Year or Pohela Boishakh
- Tamil – Tamil New Year or Puthandu
- Dai people -Water-sprinkling festival or Dai New Year
- Arunachai Pradesh and some areas of Assam, India – Sangken
- Malayali people – Malayali New Year or Vishu
- Mithlia, Nepal – Maithili New Year
These Lunar new year celebrations originate in Western Asia:
- Islamic New Year
- Judaism and Samaritan
- 1 Nissan/Aviv – The first day of the religious new year in Rabbinic and Karaite Judaism and Samaritanism
- I Elul – where the Samaritan calendar advances a year.
- Rosh Hashanah – starts with the new moon of the month of Tishrei in Rabbinic Judaism.
- Tu BiShvat – New year for trees in Rabbinic Judaism.
READ ALSO – Commonly-Known Natural Phenomena And What Causes Them