The New Year is the moment when one calendar year ends and the next begins, and many cultures mark this transition in their own ways. In the Gregorian calendar, which is the most widely used civil calendar today, New Year occurs on 1 January, a date inherited from the Julian calendar and adopted by most of the world after the Gregorian reform in the 16th century.
However, not all cultures observe New Year on this date. Many traditions base their New Year on solar, lunar or lunisolar calendars, resulting in different dates throughout the year. Chinese New Year, the Islamic New Year, Tamil New Year, and the Jewish New Year are among well-known examples.
India, Nepal, and other countries also celebrate New Year on dates according to their own calendars that are movable in the Gregorian calendar.
During the Middle Ages in Western Europe, while the Julian calendar was still in use, authorities moved New Year’s Day, depending upon locale, to one of several days, including March 1, March 25, Easter, September 1, and December 25. Since then, many national civil calendars in the Western world and beyond have changed to using one fixed date for New Year’s Day, January 1”most doing so when they adopted the Gregorian calendar. In Kerala, New Year is celebrated in mid-April. In western parts of Karnataka, the New Year is celebrated on April 14/15.
The New Year of the Kutchi people occurs on Ashadi Beej, the second day of Shukla Paksha of the Aashaad month of the Hindu calendar.
Odunde Festival is a celebration on the second Sunday of June, where Odunde means Happy New Year in the Yoruba Nigerian language.
The New Year of the Zulu people occurs on the full moon of July.
The Marwari New Year is celebrated on the day of the festival of Diwali. The Islamic New Year occurs on Muharram.
