Understanding Bikram Sambat

Every Baisakh 1st, the new year celebration of Bikram Sambat (BS) is done. But how many of us have thought- how much do we know about the Bikram Sambat we celebrate each year?

There are many calendars in the world. Just only in Nepal, there are plenty of calendars like Nepal sambat, Yalambar sambat, Shake sambat, etc. AD has become a famous calendar in the world today. But lesser known is, BS has many undoubtedly advantages over AD. An obvious fact. BS is ahead of AD by 56.7 years. Next, AD is a solar calendar. And BS is both a solar and lunar calendar. It means, AD only considers the revolution of Earth around the sun to measure time. But Bikram Sambat uses both Sun and Moon’s movement for the measurement. Simple to listen to but complicated to understand completely, one would require some insight into Mathematics, Geomatics, and Astrology. But, let us first think about how did BS even start?

According to some ancient tales, BS was started by Great Emperor Bikramaditya of Kingdom Ujjaini. Bikram word can be said to mean ‘very powerful. It is said that he came to Sakhu and did some great work and then Bikram Sambat started. But experts say, this is only a misconception. There is enough proof that intense research was done about Sun in the ancient Vedic era. The meaning of Bikram is more exactly- ‘Sun’. According to the experts, the finding of facts like the Sun’s speed or the speed of Solar soundwaves led to the count of BS started. However, BS started officially in Nepal only in the Rana period of Chandra Shumsher. Don’t mistake it for meaning BS wasn’t used before that in Nepal. Many ancient writings in the land of Nepal are all found in BS. The question now is, how does Bikram Sambat actually work?

There’s surely a calendar of BS hanging on the wall of every Nepali. Terms like ‘Tithi’, ‘Pakshya’ etc can be found there.

But most of us never know the meaning of their existence. ‘Tithi’ is a term very close to a lunar day in English. It is defined as the time it takes for the longitudinal angle between the moon and the Sun to increase by 12°. 15 This makes one Paksha. There are two Pakshyas. Krishna Pakshya and Shukla Pakshya. These two Pakshyas make one ‘Maas’.This way, one Maas contains approximately 29.5 This. Now, two Maas combined to make one Ritu. Three Ritu make one Aayan. And two Aayan make one Barsha (Year). Like this every year when the sun moves to the ‘Mesh’ line, a new year starts.

Though the Gregorian Calendar (AD) has a significant advantage of worldwide popularity over the Bikram Sambat (BS) calendar, BS still has many lesser-known advantages over it. An obvious fact, B.S. is ahead of A.D. by 56.7 years. Next, A.D. is a solar calendar, while B.S. is both a solar and lunar calendar. It means, A.D. only considers the revolution of Earth around the sun to measure time, while Bikram Sambat uses both the Sun and Moon’s movement for the measurement. It would require quite an insight into Mathematics, Geomatics, and Astrology to understand it completely, which hopefully shall be explained in upcoming articles of Nepal Revives.