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These bring out the beauty and sensitivity represented in India's ancient philosophy and culture. National Symbols provide an identity and the choice of symbols often reflect the values of a particular nation. The National Symbols of India are the manifestations of Man's yearning for spiritual and emotional well being, harmony with nature and are the expressions of his artistic creativity through the ages. An attempt has been made in these booklets to give a brief historical background of the National Symbols of free India. For example, the National Flag, Anthem and Song tell us the story of India's Freedom Movement, where great literateurs, musicians, social reformers and thinkers came together to free India from the colonial rule in a manner unique to the history of mankind. Or, for instance, in the booklets of the National Symbols on the Tiger, Peacock or Lotus, one can see how nature - the flora and fauna have inspired the creative genius of the visual artist, poet, musician or dancer. The culmination of the stylised representation of the Lotus can be seen in the architecture of the Bahai temple in Delhi and the rich heritage of the Mughal miniature painting of the Peacock of circa 1610 C.E. The booklet on the Calendar traces the history of the ancient knowledge of calculating time which has resulted in a variety of calendars in use today and Ashoka's philosophy and the great tradition of artistic expressions of his times have given India its National Emblem. The CCRT has used information provided in the records available with government agencies and other authentic sources to make this publication as informative as possible. Numerous people have helped in the production of the publication and the Centre would like to express gratitude to all of them. The CCRT dedicates this publication to the unknown and unsung soldiers of the Freedom Movement and also to the young generation who are, the hope of the future and will carry forward the cultural traditions, ideals and values of our great scientists, philosophers, artists, freedom fighters into the next millennium. This publication endeavours in creating self¬ esteem and national pride in acknowledging the fact of being an Indian and hopes to inspire the youth to take India forward as a leader among nations ; where tolerance, love, respect for man and nature and the diversity of cultures will instil universal values of truth, beauty and goodness. Each booklet provides suggested activities to enlarge the scope of knowledge of the reader. 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RT RR[RR RTt RRT^ t | RfcT RRTR RRTRR f^RTRR RRT 'RRR' RRT^ f, f^t RRRT R> 3tRRcR RR RRT f^R RTRT RTTRT t I RMtRT RTeR 3 RkR (14) RRRTR RRRT rH RRT Ftct # I RMtRT RRRTR ^ 3TRT ^ RRTR R?t RR^RRT R?t RTcft tlRRRTRcf f f% RTRR RR RRTR 3RtRT RIR^c^ J|f?lR(^Rf ^ RR?tR RtRT t, RRtRRuil^, (1) feR 3ftR RR ^ RTRT-3TTRfcfR RfetcfR (2) RRRT R?T fctf^FR RRRRTRT (RkR3TT) RT RRRRcfR, RRT (3) ^ftRRT ^ RRRRcfR ^t RRRRcff Rfcrfctf^RT 'RRR' ^ RTR RTT RRRTcft 11 4 CALENDAR We judge the cultural standards of the ancient people by the calendar they used. In the appearance and development of the calendar, we find evidence of a mass of astronomical observations and mathematical solution, of an organised society, with its comprehensive administrative and military state machinery, commodity production, international trade, a higher intelligentsia and higher spiritual interests. So the development of the calendar not only reflects the history of ancient astronomy but also ancient civilization in general. The basic unit in measuring time is the day. It is the period of a full revolution of the earth round its axis. In ancient times, the determination of the duration of one day was particularly difficult. The solar day, or the interval of time between two consecutive moments in each of which the shadow of a vertical rod shrinks to its minimum length, is slightly longer than the period of time in which the Earth actually makes a full revolution round its axis. In other words, the solar day is slightly longer than the actual or sidereal day. We can understand how this discrepancy could, in the course of years, affect the calendar unless it was detected and computed, the calendar would gain time and the time of year in the calendar would lag behind its initial seasonal and climatic characteristics. Time was measured in many ways by people in the history of mankind. The thinkers in ancient India had evolved a cyclic concept of time made up of yugas. manvantaras and kalpas. The universe is without beginning and without end going on recurrent phase of manifestation and dissolution. There are four yugas or ages for measuring time. The first yuga called Krnita is followed by Treta, Dvapara and Kali respectively. Each Yuga or age represents a progressive decline in virtue, morality, happiness and longevity. The Kraita is the golden, the Treta the silver, the Dvapara the copper and the Kali the iron age. The four yugas constitute the Mahayuga of millions of earthly years. Each thousand Mahayugas making a Kalpa' which is said to be equivalent to one day of Brahma's existence. Within each 'Kalpa', there are fourteen (14) 'manvantaras' ox secondary cycles. At the end of each manvantaras the world is recreated. We are aware that the flux of time is cyclic in several natural phenomena, for instance, (i) by the ever-recurring alternation of day and night (ii) by the recurrence of different phases of the moon (iii) by the recurrence of various seasons These recurring phenomenons record the measuring of'time'. 5 TORR 4 RTRRT, RTRR 4 ^frT^RT TOT RTO 3TRR R^TO 34 dRlMx! fftRR TOT 11 TORR 4 RTRft 4 ^=Nff&er TO R9R 3]|RbcbK 3T9TTO RR ft-TOTO, Rjft TO4, RT4R fftTO, 4r 3T9TRT 4rR MM ft ^TOlHId 4 TOTft Rdft TO RfftRI TORT Rto4 TOTOd r4r f4? dTft 'TORft m44 (Ri‘RhJl TOTOTO) I TOTOTR Jlhc1d R TOftdTOTTOft RRTOTOTOft ft RfftR TO 'cftencfrfr' TOM TO ^TOTTO 44 9ft I ^Rft TO TORR RTRft 4 RR TOT ftf f^TTO t, 4 RTO TORR dtrofftR 9R, TO TOT ftt 4 TO#TO RlfftTO 3TRTOTRT ft TORR 4 fft4f4r TOT 4 foTR RTOTTOT TO TOT RRtR f4? 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Some of the first inventions or devices for measurement of time were gnomon, the sundial, the 'water clocks' or clepsydrae (an instrument used for measuring time by the flow of water) used in ancient Egypt, China or the Roman Empire followed by 'The Sinking Bowls'. Bhaskaracharya, the celebrated mathematician and astronomer wrote a book on arithmatic, entitled 'Lilavati'. The narration also refers to a time - measuring device that was in vogue but even now, there are isolated cases of its employment for determining the time of certain rituals. The beginning of organised social life and agricultural practices depending on seasonal weather conditions, gave birth to religious festivals. People wanted to know in advance when to expect the new moon or full moon. A calendar is a means of grouping days for regulating civic life, religious observances, historical and scientific purpose. The word "calendar" is derived from the Latin calendarium meaning interesting register or account book, itself a derivation from calendae (or kalendae), the first day of Roman month, the day on which future market days, feasts and other occasions were proclaimed. Let us consider how the best known ancient calendar, the Egyptian one, came to be the basis of our modem calendar, now in use in most countries of our planet. The first practical calendar to evolve from these requirements was the Egyptian. According to American archaeologist, James Henry Breasted (1865-1935), it was a practically convenient calendar adopted in 4236 B.C.E, the earliest dated record in the intellectual history of mankind. The Romans then developed it into the Julian Calendar which was used in western Europe for more then 1,500 years. The Gregorian Calendar, known for the contribution and reforms by Pope Gregory XIII in the later part of the sixteenth century (1582 C.E.), was a further improvement and is now almost universally adopted. Such a calendar system is complex, since the periods of the Moon's phases and the Sun's motion are incompatible, but by adopting cycles of days and comparatively simple mles for their application, the calendar provides an year with an error of less than half a minute. However in many parts of the world and in India, the calendar based on a lunar system is widely accepted as it gives an accurate account of the days and months. India’s National Calendar - Saka Era It is commonly believed that Saka Era began in 78 C.E. with the coronation of Kanishka. Prof. M.N. Saha suggests that the year of King Kanishka is year 201 of the old Saka. If this suggestion be correct, since the old Saka era is taken to have started in 123 B.C.E instead of 129 B.C.E, as also postulated by L.de Leeun, Kanishka started reigning in 201 minus 123, that is, in 78 C.E. 7 “H Kd mT — 3im mnn fern mm vjTKTT fe ffe 4>P|tm $ mmffefem fe W^T feT 78 fe. fe Wf> M| 3TRn ^3TTI fe. xpr. tt^ ^t fe n^rm fen fe mm mffem mT i mf mfen mm mr 201m mf fe i nn m^rm mfer fer fer rnmn fe, feffefemmrnxmnT t ffemfenrnmmm 129 femxj. ^wj 123 femxjfe fe fen fm m 1 w ^t. fefem fet fer nfer nfermn fe, mfeffe mffem fe 78fe. mfen 201 n^r 123 fe mm rnmn fen ffem nr 1 fefekHcb fcjcj^ui fe ^HcblcflH fefnm fe v3cfe few! 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