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It is known as “Navavarsha” in Nepal. Nepal has its
official calendar that begins from the first day of the
first month Baisakh. This very first day is observed as
Nepali New Year which usually falls in the second week
of April. People go for picnics, have get-togethers and
celebrate the day socializing in various ways as this
day is also a national holiday.
It's the first day of 1127 for the Newar (nay-wahr)
people of Nepal, who count the years since a prominent
citizen paid off all outstanding debts to provide a new
beginning for his countrymen. In 1999 the Nepal
government declared that citizen, Shankhadhar Shakhwaa,
a national hero.
But the Nepal Sambat calendar is much more than
historical trivia. It's the lunar calendar by which most
cultural and religious festivals are scheduled, and it
is the only truly indigenous calendar. Over the last
decade a popular movement to adopt the Nepal Sambat
calendar as the standard for the country has grown,
driven by both social activists and politicians.
If the proposal eventually succeeds, the NS calendar
will replace the current government calendar, the Bikram
Sambat, a North Indian calendar adopted in Nepal in the
early 1900s. By the Bikram Sambat calendar it is 2063;
April 14th 2007 will mark the beginning of 2064.
Nepal's high-mountain people use yet another calendar,
derived from the Tibetan and Chinese calendars, with its
New Year falling in mid-February. By the Sherpa calendar
it is currently 2138.
With Nepal's integration into the modern world, the
western Gregorian calendar is also widely used in
business, trade and finance. Voices in Nepal that oppose
adoption of the Nepal Sambat as the official calendar
argue that replacing one obscure system with another
will only increase confusion: They propose adopting the
Gregorian calendar.
The issue is not just practical, though. Both cultural
pride and politics play a part. Leftists decry western
imperialism and resist adopting a "foreign" calendar;
rightists call for the primacy of tradition and heritage
over business needs.
However the argument over an official calendar is
eventually settled, the Nepal Sambat will not vanish.
More than 400 years after Europe adopted the Gregorian
calendar, Easter is still scheduled by a far older lunar
calendar. The same will be true in Nepal: major holidays
will remain tied to NS dates, and new year festivities
will occur in fall, winter and spring.
Happy New Year 2067
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