So this is another year, a new year for a new beginning and new desires. Its one more chance to re-energize the life for a better future.
The significance to the 'NEW YEAR' may be different to different people, different religions, different countries, different beliefs and quite possible it does not make any difference to certain set.
On this eve, I just thought to have a bit of research on the significance of the celebrations in India. India is full of numerous cultures and religions and dates vary as per the region, season and religion. The popular name of Hindu New Year is Vikram Samvat. The new year celebrations in different parts are
| Pongal | New Year in Tamil Nadu |
| Saka New Year | New Year based on the calendar followed by the Govt of India |
| Ugadi | New Year in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, celebrated on the first day of the month of Chaitra (Lunar Calendar) |
| Gudhi Padwa | Marathi New Year, celebrated on the first day of the month of Chaitra (Lunar Calendar) |
| Nav Varsh Samvat | New Year in some major states in North India, celebrated on the first day of Amavasi in Chaitra (Lunar Calendar) |
| Cheti Chand | New Year by Sindhis, celebrated on the first day of Chait (Lunar Calendar) |
| Puthandu | Tamil New Year, celebrated on the first day of Chitirai (Solar Calendar) |
| Vishu | New Year in Kerala, celebrated on the first day of Malayalam month Medam |
| Poila Baisakh | New year in Eastern |
| Bihag Bihu | New Year in Assam, based on Assamese Solar Calendar on the first day of Baisakh Month. |
| Annakut | New Year in Gujarat, on the day after Diwali. |
Now if we talk about the different cultures across the globe, the Islamic New Year is celebrated on the first day of Muharram (first Islamic month). Islamic New Year Islam has a lunar based calendar with 354 days. This day is remembered as the day of Hijra by Mohammad-SAW.
The countries following the Gregorian Calendar celebrate the New Year on this date. Gregorian Calendar is a modification of the Julian Calendar established by the Roman Emporer, Julius Caesar. As on date Gregorian Calendar is widely accepted calendar.
Jamshedi Navroz is the Parsi New Year. It usually falls on 21st March. Parsi New Year was named after the legendary King of Persia, Jamshed who started the Parsi Calendar.
For Jewish people Month of September and October (according to the Gregorian calender) are for welcoming the New Year. Festival celebrations begin with Rosh Hashanah and ends with Yom Kippur.
Now the most important part is, I got all this data by Google. If today I go for survey on 1000 people on this topic, all of them will be like me. If I talk only about India, the Jan 1st has no significance but this stands the day of celebration. This is the day of celebration for me from the days, I started understanding this world. We used to create the hand-made greeting cards for the teachers and mates months before the new year date. This was always a day, which taught me to be creative in all the possible ways.
A huge amount by everybody is spent and lots of jobs are created. This is just not true about the New Year but the days like Valentines Day, Father Day, Mothers Day and all XYZ days, which I celebrate so religiously for no reason.
Such is the power of Marketing in this information age.
