Yatra to start earlier, festival dates to differ due to Adhikmas this year
Wednesday, 01 February 2023 | Vinod Chamoli | NEW TEHRI
This year in 2023 due to Adhikmas as per the traditional Hindu calendar, devotees will not have to wait long to visit the Char Dham shrines. Due to an additional month in the calendar, this year the fasting festivals coming before Sawan will be celebrated earlier than in the year 2022. Similarly, the dates of the fasting festivals that come after Sawan have gone further. This is the reason why the portals of Badrinath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri shrines will be opened to the devotees 11 days earlier as compared to the previous year. At the same time, the festival of Holi will also fall 11 days earlier than the current year while Deepawali will come late by 19 days.
The doors of Gangotri and Yamunotri temples will open on Akshay Tritiya on April 22 while Badrinath will be opened to the public on April 27. The dates of various festivals will also be different this year. Mahashivratri was observed on March 1 last year but will fall on February 18 this year. Similarly, Holi was celebrated on March 18 last year but will be celebrated on March 8 this year. Akshay Tritiya was marked on May 3 last year while this year it will be observed on April 22. On the other hand, some festivals will be celebrated late compared to the previous year. Rakshabandhan was celebrated on August 11 last year but will be held on August 30 this year. Similarly, Janmashtami which was celebrated on August 17 last year will be celebrated on September 7 this year. While Deepawali was celebrated on October 24 last year, it will be celebrated on November 12 this year.
This year there will be Adhikamas – Purushottam month in the Hindu calendar. The Hindu Vikram Samvat 2080 Chaitra Shukla Pratipada will start from March 22.Because of this, the month of Sawan will be longer this time. Adhikamas will be from July 4 to August 29. Due to an additional month this year the month of Sawan will be 59 days long. Due to this, this time there will be 13 months in the Hindu calendar. Normally there are four Mondays in the month of Sawan, but due to the extra month, this time there will be eight Mondays. In such a situation, there will be changes in the date of fasting and festivals in the year 2023. In such a situation, the festivals falling before Sawan will come 10 to 15 days before and the festivals after Sawan will be about 15 to 20 days later compared to the previous year. Jyotishacharya Harshmani Bahuguna said that the Indian Hindu calendar is based on the calculation of the solar month and the lunar month. According to the Indian calculation method, each solar year is of about 365 days, while the lunar year is considered to be of 354 days. There is a difference of about 11 days between the two years, which equals about one month every three years. To bridge this gap, a lunar month comes into existence every three years, which is called Adhikamas. The Adhikmas is considered to be the period for worship of lord Vishnu.
