The
calendar that gives temporal structure to community life is most often
based on the cycle of the seasons, caused by the earth’s revolution
around the sun. The time pattern of the planet as a whole, especially that
which regulates the physiological activities of living organisms, is
adapted to the earth’s rotation through a circadian rhythm, and to the
earth’s position in space relative to the sun, by a circannual rhythm.
New Year’s Day in different cultures marks our intrinsic link with the
annual rhythm of the solar cycle. Some calendars begin the day new seed is
sown; some when the principal crop is harvested some in the heart of
winter, some at the earth’s first awakening in the spring; some are
linked to the life and times of a national figure. The Hindus on April 14,
Boat race, Kerala
Baisakhi celebration, Punjab
New Year celebration, Beijing, China
New Year celebration, Sikkim
