New Year's story - Андрей Тихомиров

The Sinhala New Year is celebrated with a harvest festival (in the month of Bak) when the sun moves from Meena Rashiya (House of Pisces) to Mesha Rashiya (House of Aries). Sri Lankans begin celebrating their national New Year "Aluth Avurudda" in Sinhala and "Puththandu" in Tamil. However, unlike the common practice of the New Year beginning at midnight, the National New Year begins at a time determined by astrologers by calculating the exact time of the sun's transition from Meena Rashiya (House of Pisces) to Mesha Rashiya (House of Aries). Astrologers determine not only the beginning of a new year, but also the end of the old one. And unlike the usual ending and beginning of a new year, between the end of the Old Year and the beginning of the New there is a period of several hours, which is called the “nona gate” (neutral period). Where part of the sun is in the House of Pisces, and part is in the House of Aries. The Nepalese New Year (Nepalese Sambat) is celebrated in the regions covering the original Nepal. New Year begins on the fourth day of Diwali. The calendar was used as an official calendar until the mid-19th century.

The Water Festival is a form of similar New Year celebrations held in many Southeast Asian countries on the full moon day of the 11th month of the lunisolar calendar each year. The date of the celebration is based on the traditional lunisolar calendar, which determines the dates of Buddhist festivals and holidays, and is celebrated from April 13 to 15. Traditionally, people would discreetly spray each other with water as a sign of respect, but as the new year falls during the hottest month in Southeast Asia, many people end up dousing strangers and passersby in cars in noisy celebrations. The holiday has many different names, specific to each country:

New Year's Day, according to many South and Southeast Asian calendars, falls between April 13 and April 15, marking the beginning of spring.

Neuroz, the Coptic New Year, is a continuation of the ancient Egyptian New Year after the reform of the calendar by the Roman Emperor Augustus. The date of the 1st of Thoth usually falls on August 29th in the Julian calendar, except in the year before the Julian leap year, when it falls on the next day. Leap years, removed from the Gregorian calendar, mean that it currently falls on September 11th or 12th. Enkutatash, the Ethiopian New Year, falls on the same day as Neyrouz.

Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew for "head of the year") is a two-day Jewish holiday commemorating the culmination of the seven days of Creation and marking God's annual renewal of His world. This day contains elements of celebration and introspection, as it is traditionally believed that God evaluates His creation and determines the fate of all people and creatures for the coming year. In Jewish tradition, honey symbolizes a sweet new year. During the traditional feast on this holiday, apple slices are dipped in honey and eaten with blessings recited for a good, sweet new year. Some Rosh Hashanah greetings depict honey and an apple, symbolizing the holiday. Some communities hand out small straws of honey to herald the new year.

Historical dates of the European New Year

During the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, years began to be counted from the date on which each consul first took office. It was probably May 1 before 222 BC, March 15 from 222 to 154 BC, and January 1 from 153 BC. In 45 BC, when Julius Caesar's new Julian calendar came into force, the Senate established January 1 as the first day of the year. At the time, it was the day on which those who were to hold civil office assumed their official positions, and was also the traditional annual date for the convening of the Roman Senate. This civil new year was in effect throughout the Roman Empire, east and west, during its existence and for a long time after, wherever the Julian calendar continued to be used.

The Anglo, Saxon and Viking invasions of England from the fifth to tenth centuries pushed the region back into prehistory for a time. Although the revival of Christianity brought with it the Julian calendar, it was initially used primarily in the service of the church. After William the Conqueror became king in 1066, he ordered the restoration of January 1 as the civil New Year to coincide with his coronation. From about 1155, England and Scotland joined most of Europe to celebrate New Year's Day on March 25, in line with the rest of Christendom.

In the Middle Ages in Europe, a number of significant holidays in the church calendar of the Roman Catholic Church began to be used as the beginning of the Julian year.

In Scotland, the modern New Year's date was changed to 1 January 1600 by order of the King's Privy Council on 17 December 1599. Despite the unification of the Scottish and English royal crowns with the accession of Kings James VI and I in 1603, and even the unification of the kingdoms themselves in 1707, England continued to use 25 March until Parliament passed the New Style Calendar Act of 1750. This law moved the whole of Great Britain to use the Gregorian calendar and at the same time moved the civil new year to January 1 (as in Scotland). It came into force on September 3 (old style or September 14, new style) 1752.

According to Easter-style dating, the new year began on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter), or sometimes on Good Friday. The word was used throughout Europe, but especially in France, from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries. The disadvantage of this system was that, since Easter was a movable holiday, the same date could occur twice a year; these two events were distinguished as "before Easter" and "after Easter".