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The Origin
Of New Years
New Years is
the world's most popularly celebrated festival. Let's give some
insight to the origin of this grand event in a brief form. The origin
of New Years 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. The first New Year celebrations were noticed in
Mesopotamia around 2000 years ago. They were celebrated at the
time of the 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.
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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.
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.
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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