None of the major civilizations of the world ever celebrated New Year on or around the day that coincided with the first January of Gregorian calendar. The Mesopotamians, The Egyptian, the Chinese, the Persians, none of these older civilizations ushered in the new year on 1st January. And it is certainly not an Indian tradition.
And yet the first January across the world is regarded as the beginning of a new year. But for Julius Caesar, most of the world would be celebrating the new Year around Vernal Equinox- the time around March every year. Even the Roman New Year also originally corresponded with the vernal equinox, but the Roman indecisiveness on whether to follow solar calendar; and the decisiveness of Julius Caesar set the world on a course to celebrate new year on January 1.
Named after the two-faced deity Janus, the deity of change and beginning, it has a special significance. It was seen as symbolically looking back at the old and ahead to the new, and this idea became tied to the concept of transition from one year to the next.
The Old World
How did then the old world celebrate new year and when? The common thread running through the celebrations underlined the supremacy of nature; and as significantly the contrived demonstration of the monarchy’s machinations for perpetuation. Whether it was the ‘Akitu” of ancient Babylon or the ‘Wepet Rennet’ of the mysterious Egyptians, the Lunar New Year of China or the Nauroj of Persians(Parsi), the celebrations were a tribute to forces of nature; and a reaffirmation of king’s authority and reverence.
The ‘Akitu’ of Babylon
Regarded by many as the oldest tradition is linked to Babylon of Mesopotamia. Dating back to 2000 BC or earlier, it was celebrated following the first new moon after the vernal equinox in late March. A multi-day festival that would honor the rebirth of the natural world was deeply intertwined with religion and mythology.
During the Akitu, statues of the gods were paraded through the city streets, and rites were enacted to symbolize their victory over the forces of chaos. Through these rituals the Babylonians believed the world was symbolically cleansed and recreated by the gods in preparation for the new year and the return of spring.
But the most fascinating aspect of the Akitu involved a kind of ritual humiliation endured by the Babylonian king. This peculiar tradition saw the king brought before a statue of the god Marduk, stripped of his royal regalia and forced to swear that he had led the city with honor. A high priest would then slap the monarch and drag him by his ears in the hope of making him cry. If royal tears were shed, it was seen as a sign that Marduk was satisfied and had symbolically extended the king’s rule.
In effect, Mardul was always satisfied and this endorsement was the cleverly contrived and engineered ploy to reaffirm the king’s divine power over his people.
Ancient Egyptian Wepet Renpet
Egypt and the river Nile are inseparable and the ancient Egyptian culture evolved around this association. Propitiating the river as it brought the annual floods was an important ritual. Their new year festivities typically took place around mid-July just preceding the inundation of Nile. This annual inundation that ensured that the farmlands remained fertile for the coming year, became a ritualistic celebration marking the Egyptian New Year.
It also coincided with the sighting of the star Sirius, the brightest star of the night sky, when it emerges after a 70 day absence. Roman writer Censorinus, attributes Egyptian new year to sighting of this star, the heliacal rising, that took place around mid-July as the Nile river began to swell.
Egyptians called the festival ‘Wepet Renpet’, which means “opening of the year.” The New Year was seen as a time of rebirth and rejuvenation, and it was honoured with feasts and special religious rites.
An interesting legend reveals the Egyptian license to indulge in drinking and unbridled revelry. Recent discoveries at the Temple of Mut show that during the reign of Hatshepsut the first month of the year played host to a “Festival of Drunkenness.” This massive party was tied to the myth of Sekhmet, a war goddess who had planned to kill all of humanity until the sun god Ra tricked her into drinking herself unconscious. In honour of mankind’s salvation, the Egyptians would celebrate with music, sex, revelry and—perhaps most important of all—copious amounts of beer.
The Lunar New Year of China
One among the oldest traditions that is still celebrated today, is Lunar New Year (also called Chinese New Year), which is believed to have originated over 3,000 years ago during the Shang Dynasty. The legend is that there was once a bloodthirsty creature called ‘Naan’—now the Chinese word for “year”—that preyed on villages every New Year. In order to frighten the hungry beast, the villagers took to decorating their homes with red trimmings, burning bamboo and making loud noises. The ruse worked, and the bright colours and lights associated with scaring off ‘Naan’ eventually became integrated into the celebration.
The Chinese New Year is a prolonged affair, often lasting for 15 days and is very family oriented. People clean their houses to rid them of bad luck, and some repay old debts as a way of settling the previous year’s affairs. It typically falls in late January or early February on the second new moon after the winter solstice. Each year is associated with one of 12 zodiacal animals: the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
Following the invention of gunpowder in the 10th century, the Chinese were also the first to ring in the New Year with fireworks.
Nauroj of Ancient Persia
Falling on or around vernal equinox, the festival is linked to Zoroastrian religion. Its beginning, many historians claim, predate christianity by over 700 years though it has been formally recognized since 2nd Century B.C. And associated with the rule of the Achaemenid Empire.
Often called the “Persian New Year,” the celebrations usually last for 13 days.
Several ancient Persian festivals succumbed to the conquest of Alexander in 333 BC and more recently to Islamic rule since 7th Century AD. Nauroj surprisingly has survived and endured.
In the beginning Nauroj focused on the rebirth that accompanied the return of spring. Monarchs would use the holiday to host lavish banquets, dispense gifts and hold audiences with their subjects. Other traditions included feasts, exchanging presents with family members and neighbours, lighting bonfires, dyeing eggs and sprinkling water to symbolize creation.
A unique ritual perhaps to reinforce the divine right of the king to rule, evolved around 10th Century when a commoner is elected as a “Nourojian Ruler” for the duration of festival who would pretend to be king, only predictably to be ‘dethroned’ near the end of the festival.
Nouroj has evolved considerably over time, but many of its ancient traditions—particularly the use of bonfires and colored eggs—remain a part of the modern version, which is observed by an estimated 300 million people each year.
The Indian Tradition
Thanks to the cultural diversity of India, no country in the world celebrates the new year on so many dates and in so many different ways than India. Every region has a unique culture and tradition of celebrating the New Year.
Beginning from Bihu(Assam), Poila Baishakh(Bengal) and Jude Sheetal(Bihar and Jharkhand) in the east, Baishakhi(Punjab) in the north, Gudi Padwa(Maharashtra) and Sal Mubarak(Gujrat) in the west, and Ugadi(Karnataka, Andhra and Telangana), Pongal,(Tamilnadu) and Vishu(Kerala) in the South, and not to mention the Parsi New Year of Navroz; and the Islamic New Year falling in the first month of Hijra calendar, all of them predate the now nearly ubiquitous custom of observing the beginning of new year on 1st January.
And none of these celebrations fall on 1st January. They are all linked with the harvests, a reward that the mother nature bestows on us for our labour and effort. It is the time to thank the Gods and the Nature for their bountiful blessings that sustain us ceaselessly.
They are essentially a celebration of gratitude and thanksgiving marked by energy, enthusiasm and elan.
And yet, the fun, food and frolic, the gaiety and the festivities must also make us look inwards, as individuals and as communities. The permanence of happiness and the inspiration of creativity are best harnessed when nurtured and nourished from within, for then, there is neither attrition nor diminution, neither decline nor decay.
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