Diwali date in dispute again, Viraat Sabhaa lays out case for Oct 29th
After a rift in the Hindu community last year forced the country to observe Diwali on two separate days, the Viraat Sabhaa is contesting this year’s earmarked date for the holiday.
Speaking yesterday at the Signature Inn on Laluni Street, Pandit Haresh Tewari explained that the Viraat Sabhaa (Guyana), in collaboration with the Guyana Pandits Council and the West Coast Demerara Sanatan Dharm Pandits Sabha had come to the conclusion that the October 30 date for Diwali that has been earmarked is inconsistent with astrological principles.
It was explained that in order to establish the correct date for Hindu religious observances, the Viraat Sabhaa invited Pandits from various regions of the country where they used the Bhavani Shankar Panchaang (a Hindi time keeping calendar) to calculate the date.
The calculations were done by Pandit Ramdyal Balbadar.
“First thing, our festivals are being observed on the lunar calendar as opposed to the solar calendar. In the past I want to believe, and I want to honestly believe, that we had no say even though we knew that certain things were not consistent with the dictates of the Holy Books,” Tewari said, stating that the organizations were “powerless and toothless” in the past.
Tewari contended that Diwali is celebrated on the evening of the New Moon, which they call Amaavasya. “Some people are talking different jargons to establish Diwali but everybody knows that the fundamentals of Diwali is called Amaavasya and must be celebrated during that period. Nobody will dispute this fact and it is fundamental law,” he said, explaining that the Amaavasya is the beginning of the 15th lunar day.
He said, according to the calculations that were done from the Panchaang, the 15th lunar day starts in Guyana on 11:09 AM on October 29 and ends on 1:37 PM on October 30. “Therefore Amaavasya is between 11:09, let’s say today, and ends tomorrow at 1:3 7PM. That’s the timespan for Amaavasya so Diwali must be celebrated within that time,” he said.
He further explained that the principles set out that the holiday must be celebrated during the evening of Amaavasya. “If it started midday today and gone midday tomorrow, when is the evening of Amaavasya?” Tewari questioned, stating that because the Amaavasya begins on October 29, 11:09AM, the evening of Amaavasya falls on the 29th and therefore the holiday must be celebrated on that day.
While there have been questions as to why India has earmarked their celebrations for the 30th, Tewari pointed out that the calculations are not different and India is correct to be celebrating the day after Guyana. “In India, Amaavasya starts on 8:30 PM (October 29) and ends 11PM (October 30),” he said, pointing out that since the celebration starts as soon as the sun sets, if they were to celebrate the holiday on the October 29 in India, they would not be starting it in the evening of Amaavasya. However, because the evening of Amaavasya ends at 11PM on October 30, if they celebrate the holiday on that they then they would be celebrating during the evening of Amaavasya.
“We are not saying that we know more than the Indians, they’re right to celebrating on the 30th according to the Panchaang. We are celebrating a day before because that is the most auspicious day for us,” he said.
The pandit explained that the organizations have been in contact with their counterparts in Trinidad and Tobago, Canada and the United States of America, who have earmarked their celebrations for October 29.
While there has been a controversy over the dates, Pandit Balbadar explained that the reason for the confusion is because of a simple mistake that was made by the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha. He said that at a meeting held at the Dharmic Sabha Kendra on August 22, they admitted to using the time given in the Panchaangs as the ‘Starting’ time instead of the ending time and therefore coming to a conclusion of October 30.
However, one of the Pandits pointed that if their calculations were correct and Guyana had to celebrate the holiday on October 30, then India would’ve celebrated theirs a day after.
Tewari said that the organizations have no ulterior motives and only want the correct day to be fixed as the day for the holiday. “This is a Hindu position; it has nothing to do with politics. Hinduism is being sacrificed at the altar of politics,” he said.
The Pandits said that they hope that the gazetted date for the holiday is given more consideration and changed to the correct one that they have calculated.