Calendar 2019: Free Printable Calendar, Holidays

Calendars are used for centuries to plan the year. The importance of planning can’t be neglected. If one does not know when are the important festivals in the year, it would be really difficult to balance personal and professional life. This year Diwali is on November 07. How do we all know it? Simply because we checked our calendar. Calendars solve a big problem for which we would otherwise have to seek an expert to declare the date and time of festival at individual levels.

The word calendar has its origin in Latin language. Calendarium meaning account book was the term adopted into old English as Calendier, which is nowadays spelt as calendar. In Ancient India, keeping a record of time has been of great importance since time immemorial. In Vedic Astrology, tracking the movement of astrological bodies like planets and moon helped in finding auspicious time or shubh muhurat for important ceremonies. The existence of Jantar Mantar proves that study and minute calculation of time is an axiomatic truth of Indian heritage. Hindu religious calendar popularly known as Panchang is based on lunisolar system of calculation.

Why do we need a Calendar?

1. To keep a track of time.
2. To celebrate a festival in unison.
3. To avoid the need of remembering importance dates of the year.
4. Planning for holidays.
5. Organize functions.
6. Plan events such as marriage.
7. To know date, day, tithi etc.
8. For astrological calculations like making a kundali using birth details of a child.
9. Remembering birthdays, anniversaries, historic dates etc.

Printable Calendar

The modern world offers us little time to devote to our family and take out time to remember days and events. It is always better to have a record of upcoming events. We Indians do not hesitate from using a calendar as a planner. Be it the record for newspaper or milk, calendar in a printed form always comes handy. Place one at your workplace and in kitchen to avoid forgetting the birthdays of the special people in your life, the days you observe a fast, or anything else that matter to you. Get yours now!

Classification of Calendars

In different parts of the world, there are different culture, customs, people, religions and method to calculate the time period. There are Roman calendars, Greek calendars, to name some. There are three basic divisions of calendars namely National, International or Regional.

1. National Calendar

'Shalivahana Shaka Calendar’ which is structured on the basis of Gregorian Calendar is the calendar Indian government uses to declare bank holidays, festivals, gazetted or public holidays. It starts from January and end at December. It is both the public and official calendar of India.

2. International Fixed Calendar

It is a perennial calendar in which the year is divided into 13 months constituting 28 days each. Unlike the calendar we follow, where the months are alternatively of 30 or 31 days, excluding the month of February which has either 28 or 29 days; this calendar has equal number of days every month. Although, this calendar has not been adopted by any country officially.

3. Regional Calendar

Different religious festivals are calculated on the basis of a regional calendar. For instance, Lohri or Baisakhi has a fixed date in Gregorian calendar, but in Nanakshahi calendar, popular in Amritsar, the dates sometimes vary. In other religions too, it is the same. Be it Karwa chauth or the dates of navratri, a variation is seen in different regions of the country. The best example is of Tamil Diwali, which falls a day before Diwali celebration in Northern India. These calendars which serve religious purpose and are used majorly for calculating the date of festivals are called regional calendars.

Types of Calendars

The various forms of calendars used in calculating time period and days of festivals which are neither official nor accepted across the nation, and are subject to changes on the basis of religious practices can be summed up as:

Telugu Calendar

As the name suggests, this calendar is used by Telugu speaking natives. The language and culture is ancient and customs or rituals in southern India are not similar to those in Northern India. Telugu calendar has masam (months), tithi (date) and Nakshatra (constellation). These are used to calculate muhurats, details for fasts and festivals, etc. Having a regional calendar offers you the opportunity to celebrate your religious festivals and observe all such days without missing the dates.

Tamil Calendar

Tamil Panchangam or Tamil calendar is used by tamilians to enlist the dates of festivals, fasts etc. This calendar is structured as per Vedic Astrology. The position of Sun and Moon is used by Tamilians to identify when a festival is to be celebrated. Tamil calendar is highly precise as it is based on lunisolar traditional system. The time for celebration, tithi and other details are minutely observed in it.

Jain Calendar

Jain people use this calendar to chalk out important dates and events. It is a lunar calendar comprising of 12 months. The new year in Jain calendar starts with the Hindu festival of Diwali. The dates vary as per celestial positioning of planets.

Islamic Calendar

Used by Muslim community, this calendar lists Islamic festivals and events. This one is also a lunar calendar. A new month in this calendar begins with a new moon day. Similar to other calendars, there are 12 months with either 29 or 30 days in a month. It depends on the phase of moon and is thus a variable. The Islamic calendar is also called Hijri calendar and has 354 or 355 days in a year. A new year in Islamic calendar is observed from the day of Muharram.

Hindu Calendar

A lunisolar calendar which calculates date and time on the basis of the positions of Sun and Moon is used by Hindus to identify the dates of days of significance. The calendar has 12 months. The first one is Chaitra which falls around the month of April. There are 7 days in a week similar to Gregorian calendar namely Raviwar (Sunday), Somwar (Monday), Mangalwar (Tuesday), Budhwar (Wednesday), Brahaspatiwar (Thursday), Shukrawar (Friday), and Shaniwar (Saturday). HIndu calendar also follows the principle of Panchang.

Chinese Calendar

A major calendar, not used anywhere in India is basically a date chart listing the festivals of Chinese culture. The Chinese years are given the names of certain animals. For instance, 2019 is the year of the Pig. These animals are also the zodiac signs for Chinese people. As per Chinese Astrology, the new year starts in the month of February in Gregorian calendar. In 2019, it will start on 5th of February.

Indian Calendar

This calendar is an amalgamation of all the important historic dates like Independence day, religious dates like Ram Navmi or Holi, gazetted holidays etc. be it a festival of Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, or Hindus it is mentioned on this calendar. This is the official calendar which marks significant dates, festivals as well as events of all the religions or culture in an unbiased manner.

Given above are the types of calendars popular in different regions. What is different in each calendar is the type and basis. On the other hand, these calendars are often consulted to check out holidays and streamline the plans around it. Everyone loves holidays. When are those days of relaxation and merry-making falling in 2019? Read to know.

Bank Holidays

You would not like to go to a bank for some important financial work like transfering a big amount or doing an FD, and return empty-handed because the bank was closed due to a holiday. Given here is the list of Bank holidays in the year 2019, which you must know to avoid any futile visits to a bank.

Public Holidays

List of holidays was the first thing we check as soon as a calendar for a new year is brought home. It is customary to calculate the number of working days, the best time to plan a vacation and when to start preparing for big events. This all can be done only when we know when are the public holidays falling this year. These holidays can be best utilized when you plan things in advance.