Panchangam

The Indian almanac is known as the Panchangam, which means ‘having five limbs.’

The pachangam gives information regarding the basic divisions of time according to ancient hindu traditions. These are the Thithi (phase of the moon), Vara (day of the week), Nakshatra (star or constellation through which the moon is passing), Yoga (a sensitive point in the zodiac derived by adding the longitudes of the Moon, the Sun and a constant which is 930 20’) and Karana (half a Thithi).

In addition, the Panchanga gives tables for the correction of the time of sunrise of longitudes, the time taken by the sun to traverse each Rasi (zodiac sign), the Navamsa (9th Division) chart, the Shadvarga (6 major division) chart, the Sayana (tropical) position of the planets based on Driganitha (astronomical data) and so on. The basic information is according to the Siddhantas (astronomical and mathematical treatises) with corrections made accounting for the Ayanamsa (precession) for the year.

The Hindu concept of time is divided into four eras (Yugas). Krita, Treta, Dwapara and Kali yugas. The Hindu astronomers assume the planets to be in a line of mean conjunction with the first point of Aries at the beginning of a Maha Yuga. The planets would come back to their initial relative positions the end of Revati (Zeta Piscium) and the beginning of Ashwini at the beginning of the next Maha Yuga, at a place on the equator 76 degrees East of Greenwich.

They calculated the period of a Maha Yuga as 4,320,000 years. Currently, we are in Kali Yuga into its 52nd century.

Maha Yuga is made up of 12,000 Deva Samvastara (years of devas) or 4,320,000 ordinary years. 71 Maha Yugas constitute one Manvantara (308,448,000 years). 14 Manvantaras or Manus make up one Kalpa or Brahma Dina. The end of each Manvantara is said to bring about changes in the earth’s gravity and other visible changes in the Universe.

We do the the Sankalpam mentioning that we are in the 7th Manvantara in which 27 Maha Yugas have passed. We are now in the last Yuga (Kali Yuga) of the 28th Maha Yuga. We are still in the beginning of Kali Yuga with 4,26,939 years yet to elapse before it ends.

The fact that the rishis (seers) could conceive of such vast stretches of time speak of their scientific brilliance. The Vedas are a storehouse of scientific and rational knowledge and also supra-scientific knowledge (Gnana).