What year is it in India now. Indian calendar

The calendar is a rhythm that is designed to unite the outer universe with inner man into a harmonious whole. The attitude to time testifies not only to a certain level of culture, but is also an expression of those internal features that distinguish one culture from another. Naturally, the attitude to time within a single culture affects, first of all, the calendar. However, the calendar is not only a rhythm, but also a rhythmic memory of mankind. Even the most ancient of calendars, such as the solar calendar ancient egypt or the solar-lunar calendar of Babylon, with their periodically recurring cycles of religious holidays, have always pursued one important goal: to be, first of all, reliable keepers of the memory of what lay in the fundamental principle of each of the cultures. Jewish calendar- is a religious calendar and the official calendar of Israel. This is a combined solar-lunar calendar. Years are calculated from the creation of the world, which according to Judaism took place in 3761 BC. This year corresponds to the year of the world (Anno Mundi) the first. For example, 1996 corresponds to the Jewish year 5757.
Eastern (Chinese) calendar, which has been in force for several thousand years in Vietnam, Kampuchea, China, Korea, Mongolia, Japan and some other Asian countries, was compiled in times in the middle of the third millennium BC. This calendar is a 60-year cyclical system.
The Chinese sixty-year-old was formed as a result of the combination of the duodecimal cycle (“earthly branches”), for each year of which the name of the animal was assigned, and the decimal cycle of the “elements” (“heavenly branches”): five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) , each of which corresponded to two cyclic signs, personifying the male and feminine(that is why in the Chinese calendar there are consecutive years corresponding to different animals, but one element). The Chinese calendar does not count years in an endless sequence. Years have names that repeat every 60 years. Historically, years were counted from the year of the emperor's accession to the throne, which was abolished after the 1911 revolution. According to Chinese tradition, the first year of the reign of the semi-legendary Yellow Emperor Huang Di was 2698 BC. The alternative system is based on the fact that the first historical record of the beginning of the 60-day cycle was made on March 8, 2637 BC.
This date is considered the date of invention of the calendar, and all cycles are counted from this date. Timekeeping in Japan is a Chinese invention. Each emperor, ascending the throne, approved the motto under which his reign would pass. In ancient times, the emperor sometimes changed the motto if the beginning of the reign was unsuccessful.
In any case, the beginning of the emperor's motto was considered the first year of the new reign, and new era- the period of government under this motto. All mottos are unique, so they can be used as a universal time scale. During the Meiji Restoration (1868), one system Japanese chronology, originating in 660 BC. - the legendary date of the founding of the Japanese state by Emperor Jimmu. This system was actively used only until the end of the Second World War. Long term isolation Indian Principalities from each other led to the fact that almost each of them had its own local calendar system. Until recently, several official civil calendars and about thirty local calendars were used in the country, which served to determine the time of various religious holidays and ceremonies. Among them you can find solar, lunar and lunisolar.
The most popular in India is the Samvat calendar (vikram samvat), in which the length of the solar year is to some extent related to the length of the lunar months. Jawaharlal Nehru, in his book The Discovery of India, written in 1944, points to the widespread use of the Samvat calendar. He wrote that "in most parts of India, the vikram samvat calendar is followed." In April 1944, celebrations dedicated to the Samvat calendar were widely celebrated throughout India. They were associated with the 2000th anniversary of the introduction of the Vikram Samvat era at that time. Since the Vikram Samvat era starts from 57 BC, therefore, the year 2010 of our calendar corresponds to the years 2067-2068 of the Samvat calendar. In the southern part of the country, the Saka civil calendar is widely used, in which the counting of years begins on March 15, 78 AD. The New Year is celebrated on it around April 12 with a discrepancy of two to three days. The year 2010 of our calendar corresponds to the years 1932-1933 of the Saka calendar. In India for a long time other eras were used, such as the era of Kali Yuga, which dates back to February 18, 3102 BC; the era of Nirvana, which has been counting since 543 BC. - the estimated date of death of the Buddha Sakya Muni. The Fazli era was also used - one of the last historical eras in India. It was introduced by padishah Akbar (1542-1606), but it was used only in official documents. The epoch of this era is the date September 10, 1550 AD. The Gregorian calendar, which began to be used in India since 1757, is also widely used. At present, almost all published books, magazines and newspapers are dated by the Gregorian calendar, but double dating is common: according to the Gregorian calendar and according to the local civil one. The complexity of the calendar systems turned out to be so significant that the government of India was forced to reform and introduce a single national calendar. For this purpose, in November 1952, under the chairmanship of the greatest scientist, Professor Meghnad Saha, a special committee for the reform of the calendar was created. By decision of the government, it was adopted in India on March 22, 1957 for civil and public purposes. To perform religious rites, it was not forbidden to use local calendars. Mayan calendar originates from the mythical date - August 13, 3113 BC. It was from her that the Indians counted the past years and days. The starting point plays the same role for the Maya as the date of the "Christmas" in the European chronology. Why precisely August 13, 3113 BC? modern science until I was able to explain it. Presumably this day, in the views of the Maya, was marked by a cataclysm of the type global flood or something like that. In the Mayan calendar, time is divided into cycles or "Suns". There are six in total. Each cycle, the Mayan priests claimed, ends with the alleged complete destruction of the earth's civilization. The past four "Suns" completely destroyed four human races, and only a few people survived and told about what happened. The "First Sun" lasted 4008 years and ended with earthquakes. The "Second Sun" lasted 4010 years and ended with hurricanes. The "Third Sun" totaled 4081 years - the earth was destroyed by "fiery rains" that poured from the craters of huge volcanoes. The "Fourth Sun" was crowned with floods. At present, earthlings are experiencing the "Fifth Sun", the end of which will be on December 21, 2012. The sixth cycle in the calendar is empty...
Already in the first centuries of formation Christianity attempts were made to bridge the chronological bridge between modernity and sacred events described in the Bible. As a result of the calculations, about 200 various options eras “from the creation of the world”, or “from Adam”, in which the period of time from the creation of the world to the birth of Christ totaled from 3483 to 6984 years. Three so-called world eras became most widespread: Alexandrian (starting point - 5501, in fact 5493 BC), Antioch (5969 BC) and later Byzantine. In the 6th century, the world era began to be used in Byzantium with the beginning of March 1, 5508 BC. The number of days in it was conducted from Adam, who, based on biblical premises, was created on Friday, March 1, 1 of this era. Based on the fact that this happened in the middle of the sixth day of creation, by analogy it was assumed that Jesus was born in the middle of the sixth millennium, for “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day” (2 Pet. 3, 8).
In the Nile Valley, where a calendar was created in time immemorial, which existed with Egyptian culture about 4 centuries. The origin of this calendar is associated with Sirius - the brightest star in the sky, sung by many poets. So, Sirius gave Egypt the world's first solar calendar, which underlies the chronology of the entire Old World, up to the present. The fact is that the time interval between the first two morning sunrises of Sirius, which equally coincided in Egypt with the summer solstice and the flood of the Nile, is just 365 and 1/4 days, well known to us. However, the Egyptians set an integer number of days as the length of their year, namely 365. Thus, for every 4 years, seasonal phenomena were ahead of the Egyptian calendar by 1 day. Obviously, in order for Sirius to go through all the dates of the shortened year (out of 365 days), it took already 365 × 4 = 1460 days. But again, bearing in mind that the Egyptian year is shorter than the solar year by 1/4 day (6 hours), then in order to return exactly to the same date of the Egyptian calendar, Sirius needed one more year (1460+1=1461). This cyclical period in 1461 Egyptian year is the famous "Sotic period" (Great Year of Sothis).
ancient greek calendar was lunisolar with primitive and irregular intercalation rules. From about 500 B.C. Octateria (octaeteris) - 8-year cycles, in which five ordinary years of 12 months were combined with three years of 13 months, became widespread. Subsequently, these rules were borrowed by the Roman calendar. Octateries in Greece continued to be used even after Julius Caesar's reform. The beginning of the year was in the middle of summer.
In the second half of the 3rd century BC. e. Ancient Greek historian Timaeus and mathematician Eratosthenes introduced the chronology from the first Olympic Games. The Games were held once every four years on days close to summer solstice. They began on the 11th and ended on the 16th day after the new moon. When counting years for the Olympiads, each year was designated by the serial number of the games and the number of the year in the four years. The first Olympic Games opened on July 1, 776 BC. according to the Julian calendar. In 394 AD Emperor Theodosius I Olympic Games were banned. The Romans called them "otium graecum" (Greek idleness). However, the chronology according to the Olympiads was preserved for some time. Why is the old style called Julian? The first attempt to reform the ancient Egyptian calendar was made long before Julius Caesar by Ptolemy III Euergetes, who in his famous Canopic Decree (238 BC) first introduced the concept of a leap year, thereby equalizing the error of 1 day for 4 years. Thus, one year out of four became equal to 366 days. Unfortunately, this reform did not take root then: firstly, the concept of a leap year was completely alien to the very spirit of the centuries-old Egyptian time reckoning, and secondly, the ancient traditions were still too strong.
Only in the era of Roman domination, the Great Year of Sothis, already known to us, ceased to exist as a real calendar-astronomical measure. Gaius Julius Caesar, with the help of the famous Alexandrian astronomer Sosigenes, replaced the Roman calendar with the reformed Egyptian calendar of the Canopic Decree. In 46 B.C. Rome, with all its possessions, moved to a new calendar account, which has since received the name Julian. It was this calendar that became the basis of the history of Christian culture. The Julian calendar was not accurate enough and gave an error of 1 day in 128 years. In 1582, the spring equinox moved back by (1582-325)/128 = 10 days. Because of the importance of this holiday for Christendom Catholic Church was convinced of the need for calendar reform. Pope Gregory XIII, who came in 1572, reformed the calendar on February 24, 1582. All Christians were commanded to count October 5, 1582 as October 15. The calendar is named Gregorian.
OMAR 1 (581-644, reign 634-644), the second of the "righteous" Caliphs of the Arab Caliphate, introduces Muslim (Islamic) calendar. Prior to this, the Arab tribes reckoned from the "Era of the Elephants" - 570, associated with the invasion of the Ethiopian army on Mecca. The beginning of this calendar (chronology) is from Friday June 16, 622, when Muhammad (Muhammad, Mohammed, who lived in Arabia ≈570 -632) migrated (Arab. - Hijra) from Mecca to Medina. Therefore, in Muslim countries, the calendar is called the Hijri calendar (Arab. الـتـقـويم الـهـجـري‎‎, at-takwimu-l-Hijri).
French Revolution Calendar(or republican) was introduced in France on November 24, 1793 and abolished on January 1, 1806. It was used briefly again during the Paris Commune in 1871. The years are reckoned from the establishment of the first French Republic on September 22, 1792. This day became 1 Vendémière of the 1st year of the Republic (although the calendar was only introduced on November 24, 1793). Calendar of the ancient Slavs It was called Kolyada's gift - the Gift of God Kolyada. Kolyada is one of the names of the Sun. After the winter solstice on December 22, the god Kolyada is a symbol of the change in the annual cycle of the solstice and the transition of the sun from winter to summer, the victory of good forces over evil ones.
The beginning of the chronology was conducted from the date of the creation of the world in the Star Temple, that is, the signing of a peace treaty in the summer of the Star Temple according to the Krugolet (calendar) of Numbers God after the victory of the Aryans (in the modern sense - Russia) over the empire of the Great Dragon (in modern - China). The symbol of this victory, the horseman slaying the Chinese dragon, is still preserved. In the original version, this is Perun slaying the dragon, and with the advent of Christianization, Perun (the rider) was called George.
Before the adoption of Christianity, time was counted according to the four seasons of the year. The beginning of the year was spring, and the most important season was probably considered summer. Therefore, the second semantic meaning of the word "summer" as a synonym for the year has come down to us from the depths of centuries. The ancient Slavs also used the lunisolar calendar, in which every 19 years they contained seven additional months. There was also a seven-day week, which was called the week. The end of the 10th century was marked by the transition to Ancient Rus' to Christianity. The appearance of the Julian calendar is also associated with this event. The trade and political relations of Rus' with Byzantium led to the adoption of Christianity and the Julian chronology according to the Byzantine model, but with some deviation. There the year began on September 1st. In Rus', on ancient tradition Spring was considered the beginning of the year, and the year began on March 1. The chronology was conducted “from the creation of the world”, adopting the Byzantine version of this mythical date - 5508 BC. e. Only in 1492 AD. e. (in 7001 from the creation of the world) the beginning of the year in Rus' was established on September 1. In view of the expiration of the seventh thousand years “from the creation of the world” and the religious and mystical interpretation of this period, and possibly in connection with the capture by the Turks in 1453 of Constantinople, the capital of Eastern Christianity, superstitious rumors spread around the world about the end of the world coming in 7000 . After this fatal line had been safely passed, and the superstitious people had calmed down, the Moscow Church Council immediately in September 1492 (in 7001) moved the beginning of the year from March 1 to September 1. From the decree Petra 1 dated December 20, 7208 from the creation of the world: “Now the year 1699 comes from the Nativity of Christ, and from the next Genvar (January) from the 1st day there will be a new year 1700 and a new century. From now on, count summer not from September 1, but from January 1, and not from the creation of the world, but from the Nativity of Christ. The year 7208 from the "creation of the world" turned out to be the shortest and lasted only four months, while in Rus' in 1699 New Year met twice - on August 31 and December 31. In 1702, the first Russian printed calendar was printed in Amsterdam with the beginning of the year on January 1 and the counting of years from the "Christmas". In the same way, with his characteristic meticulousness, Peter described in detail how to decorate the dwelling and celebrate the holiday. “Because in Russia they consider the New Year in different ways, from now on stop fooling people's heads and count the New Year everywhere from the first of January. And as a sign of a good undertaking and fun, congratulate each other on the New Year, wishing well-being in business and prosperity in the family. In honor of the New Year, make decorations from fir trees, amuse children, ride sleds from the mountains. And for adults, drunkenness and massacre should not be committed - there are enough other days for that. ”
And Russia switched to the Gregorian calendar only in 1918 - almost 350 years after Europe. An amendment of 13 days was introduced: after January 31, 1918, February 14 immediately came. But Orthodox Church still celebrates its holidays according to the Julian calendar, which is why we celebrate Christmas not on December 25, but on January 7, and from 2100, if the church does not switch to the Gregorian calendar, the difference will increase to 14 days and Orthodox Christmas will automatically “transfer” to January 8. The churches that set the calendar according to the solar cycles have gone too far. From all this, we should remember that 310 years ago the New Year began to be celebrated on January 1, and after 90 years Christmas will be celebrated a day later. In the meantime, we live and rejoice that soon there will be the most fun party- New Year, and Santa Claus will bring us a bunch of gifts. Happy New Year!

The long isolation of the Indian principalities from each other led to the fact that almost each of them had its own local calendar system. Until recently, several official civil calendars and about thirty local calendars were used in the country, which served to determine the time of various religious holidays and ceremonies. Among them you can find solar, lunar and lunisolar.

Ancient lunisolar calendar. In one of the lunisolar calendars common in India, the connection with the movement of the Sun is that the length of the year in it is equal to the length of time after which the Sun returns to the same star from which the observation began. This period of time is called star year . It is 20.4 minutes longer than the tropical year. and, according to modern data, is 365.25636 average days.

Ancient Indian astronomers did not know the exact length of the sidereal year and took it to be 365.25876 days. This value is indicated in the ancient Indian astronomical treatise Surya Siddhanta, authored by the outstanding astronomer and mathematician Aryabhata (476-550?). It has been used for almost fifteen centuries in many Indian calendars. As a result, the Indian calendar year, which 1500 years ago began on the day of spring or autumn equinox(March 21 or September 23), now comes 22-23 days later, i.e. around April 12-13 or October 15-16.

The expression of the connection of this calendar with the apparent movement of the Sun is the division of the year into 12 months with the number of days from 29 to 32, as well as into 6 seasons associated with the seasons. These seasons, each lasting two months, are as follows:

1. Spring (vasant): the months of Chaitra (March-April, 30 days) and Vaisakha (April-May, 31 days).
2. Hot season (Grishma): Jaishtha (May-June, 31-32 days) and Asadha (June-July, 32 days).
3. Rainy season (varsha): Sravana (July-August, 31-32 days) and Bhadra (August-September, 31-32 days).
4. Autumn (sharat): Azvina (September - October, 30-31 days) and Kartika (October - November, 30 days).
5. Winter (hemaita): Agrahayana (November - December, 29 days) and Pause (December - January, 29-30 days).
6. Cold season (shishira): Magha (January-February, 29-30 days) and Phalguna (February-March, 30 days).

different duration months was formed back in those days when Indian astronomers divided the ecliptic into 12 equal parts and believed that each of them the Sun passes within one month. However, due to the uneven motion of the Earth around the Sun in different time year it moves from different speed. Therefore, in the Indian calendar summer months turned out to be longer, and winter - shorter.

Indian calendar also related to the length of the lunar month. The beginning of each month falls on the day after the onset of the full moon or new moon. As you know, 12 lunar months contain only 354 days. Therefore, in order to harmonize their duration with the solar year, an additional 13th month (adikmas) is inserted in every third year, and additional days (tithi) were introduced to equalize the lunar and solar months.

Each lunar month is divided into two halves: the first begins on the day after the onset of the full moon and is called the “darkening half”, and the second begins with the new moon and is called the “brightening half”. Within each half, days are counted from 1 to 15.

These are the main features of the construction of many Indian calendars.

Variety of applied eras. The most popular in India is Samvat a calendar (vikram samvat) in which the length of the solar year is to some extent related to the length of the lunar months. Jawaharlal Nehru, in his book The Discovery of India, written in 1944, points to the widespread use of the Samvat calendar. He wrote that "in most parts of India, the vikram samvat calendar is followed." In April 1944, celebrations dedicated to the Samvat calendar were widely celebrated throughout India. They were associated with the 2000th anniversary of the introduction of the Vikram Samvat era at that time.

The Samvat calendar was mainly used in the North and Central India. The reckoning according to this calendar begins from 57 BC. e. and is associated with the name of Vikram, or Vikramaditya, to whom innumerable legends are dedicated, as national hero and ideal ruler. He is remembered as a ruler who expelled foreign invaders. Most of the legends tell of Vikram's desire to benefit his people and his willingness to sacrifice himself and his personal interests for the benefit of others. He became famous for his generosity, service to others, courage and lack of arrogance. Nehru notes that the name Vikramaditya, like the name of Caesar, became a kind of symbol and title, and many subsequent rulers added it to their names.

The mention of many Vikrams in the history of India makes it difficult to establish which of them is associated with the history of the Samvat calendar. It is interesting to note that around 57 B.C. e., i.e., near the date from which the vikram samvat era begins, there are no traces indicating the existence of such a ruler. Only in the IV century. n. e. in Northern India there was a certain Vikramaditya who fought against foreign invaders - the Huns and drove them out of Indian land.

Since the chronology of the Vikram Samvat era begins from 57 BC. e., then, therefore, the year 1970 of our calendar corresponds to the years 2026-2027 of the Samvat calendar.

In the southern part of the country, the Saka civil calendar is widely used, in which the counting of years begins on March 15, 78 AD. e. The New Year is celebrated on it around April 12 with a discrepancy of two to three days. The year 1970 of our calendar corresponds to the years 1892-1893 of the Saka calendar.

In India, other eras were also used for a long time, such as the Kaliyuga era, which dates back to February 18, 3102 BC. e.; the era of Nirvana, which has been counting since 543 BC. e. - the estimated date of death of the Buddha Sakya Muni. The Fazli era was also used - one of the last historical eras in India. It was introduced by the padishah Akbar (1542-1606), but it was used only in official documents. The epoch of this era is the date September 10, 1550 AD. e.

The Gregorian calendar, which began to be used in India since 1757, is also widely used. At present, almost all published books, magazines and newspapers are dated by the Gregorian calendar, but double dating is common: according to the Gregorian calendar and according to the local civil one.

All religious holidays are celebrated on one of the lunisolar or lunar calendars. So, the holiday "Diwali", dedicated to the goddess of prosperity Lakshmi and the god Vishnu, falls on the new moon day of the month of Kartik. On this day, many places in the country celebrate the beginning of the new year. In the state of Madras, the new year is celebrated on the 15th day after Diwali, that is, when the full moon comes.

Creation of the Unified National Calendar of India. The complexity of the calendar systems turned out to be so significant that the government of India was forced to reform and introduce a single national calendar. For this purpose, in November 1952, under the chairmanship of the greatest scientist, Professor Meghnad Saha, a special committee for the reform of the calendar was created. In a message to this committee, Prime Minister Nehru wrote: “It is always difficult to change the calendar to which people are accustomed. However, an attempt must be made to change it, although these changes may not currently be as complete as desired. In any case, the confusion that exists in the calendars of India should be eliminated. I hope scientists will lead this important undertaking.”

The Committee carefully studied all the calendar systems existing in the country and developed a single calendar, the essence of which is as follows:

1. The new calendar is based on the Saka era, which has been widely used for two millennia in many Indian calendar systems. The year 1892 of the Saka era corresponds to the time from March 22, 1970 to March 21, 1971 of our calendar.
2. The length of the year is equal to the length of the tropical year, i.e. 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 46 seconds.
3. The civil calendar year in an ordinary year contains 365 days, and in a leap year - 366.
4. The year begins on the day following the day of the spring equinox, which corresponds to the first day of the month of Chaitra. In a leap year, it coincides with March 21, and in a simple year it coincides with March 22.
5. A year consists of 12 months. In it in leap years the first six months have 31 days, and the rest have 30. simple year the first month has 30 days

Every year we celebrate the New Year - this holiday is dearly loved in every country. It is hard to imagine, but this date is not the same for all countries. Yes, there are places on the planet where a completely different year comes, and sometimes even a millennium!

We celebrate the beginning of the new year according to the Gregorian calendar. However, it was adopted only in the 16th century, before that Julian was used. Even earlier - many other ways of reckoning. After all, humanity has been living on the planet for several millennia, and our ancestors also had their own ways to keep track of time.

In some states, other calendars are still used to this day. While the whole world is living in 2018, these countries are celebrating a very different year...

1 Israel

2 Ethiopia

3 Iran and Afghanistan

4 Nepal

5 Bangladesh

6 India

7 Japan

That's how all over the world, it turns out, they celebrate different years. Surprisingly, years later, some states have retained their traditions and even chronology!

The ever-blooming India boasts huge amount precipitation. But this is only for the benefit of its lush vegetation. It is the lingering rains that tourists who are going on vacation to this country are often afraid of.

Weather in India now:

Although the best time to travel to India is usually between October and March, each season has its own unique beauty. Much depends on the choice of region. So, in the Thar Desert in the west, precipitation is practically absent, and the eastern lands are abundantly saturated with rainwater, providing lush plant growth and a variety of wildlife. The south of the country is always hot, and in the north it is quite cold in winter. But the climate of the Indo-Gangetic Plain is a bit like the Russian continental: hot summers and cold winters.

Climate of India by months:

Blooming spring in India

According to the Indian calendar, spring begins, as well as according to the European one, in March, only from the 20th. This is the time of the northeast monsoons, bringing dry and hot weather over a large area of ​​the country. At this time of the year, the daily air temperature fluctuates between 27-30 °C. Sun lovers and beach holiday it is worth choosing this time for the trip. As early as May 20, the Indians begin summer, or grishma. So at this time it will be quite hot, more than 40 ° C.

Spring in India - period lush flowering. But bright colors not only in nature. In March, the country celebrates Holi - the festival of colors. This is a kind of spring festival, honoring the forces of fertility. Residents paint their bodies with paints. At the same time, you can often see how someone is doused with colored water. Fun celebrations are accompanied by the use of bhang drink, prepared from juice, milk and hemp leaves.

Indian summer

Summer in India lasts from May 20 to July 20. And then the monsoon season begins with a lot of rainfall. Heat (more than 35 °С), high humidity - comfortable conditions for the reproduction of insects, so it is difficult to do without repellents. Heavy rains often scare away tourists. But the monsoon season has its own charm - all the dust, dirt and even garbage are mercilessly washed away by rain streams, giving cities an extraordinary cleanliness. The most comfortable air temperature during this period is in the mountainous regions of the Himalayas (18-30 °C) and in the south of the country. The north receives 75% of all annual precipitation.

The charm of Indian autumn

Indian autumn can be called velvet season which tourists love so much. At this time it is no longer hot, but warm enough and comfortable. This is the harvest time for apples, fire peppers, rice and other crops. In autumn, the country is flooded with tourists hurrying to enjoy the comfort of the departing warm days and visit National parks with rare animals.

It is on these warm days that a whole series of holidays takes place in India. It all starts with the celebration of the birth of the deity Ganesh Chaturthi, depicted with the head of an elephant. Not without a harvest day - the Onam festival. It is traditionally celebrated in the state of Kerala and is full of songs, colors, various recreational activities. Do not forget about Diwali - the festival of lights celebrated everywhere, which is a symbol of the victory of light over darkness.

Winter India

lovers winter views sports choose this time of the year for recreation, since from December in the Himalayas open ski resorts. But in other parts of the country it is quite comfortable for rest and excursions. At this time, the flow of tourists to India is increasing even more. It is worth noting that in winter they fly to this country migratory birds, so this best time years to watch them.

Christians in India celebrate Christmas and new year holidays. And already in January, in the northern part of India, celebrations of the end of winter begin - Lori. The Pongal Harvest Festival usually falls on this month as well.