According to the Gregorian calendar, the New Year is considered as of January 1. This day is very important for everyone in the world. Along with India, all the countries of the world celebrate it as the beginning of the New Year and enjoy this day together with their loved ones.
People sing, dance, play different types of sports, go to parties, go to the movies, and watch live shows on this day. Not only people of cities but also people of villages go to the picnic. On the night of December 31, a day before the New Year, people welcome New Year with crackers, sweet distribution, gifts, and a lot of celebrations.
On the first day of the New Year, people greet each other with good wishes, and some people give greeting cards and gifts and go together in the parks. Media channels on television on this day also telecast the various programs and live-celebrations. Everyone on this day thinks of starting a new and good life ahead.
Grand live concerts are performed in big cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, and Chennai, where Bollywood stars and celebrities gather and participate in the program. Thousands of people come to see their ceremony. Some people celebrate the party together with their families; friends and some people go out to roam around. All these functions are just so that we can make fun of the past year and laugh and enjoy together and welcome New Year with a lot of happiness, excitement and new hopes.
All government offices and private business are open and all transportation facilities are available on this day. At this time, security measures are increased in most metro cities, because at that time there are many accidents due to the overcrowding. In the days of the arrival of the New Year, tourists from all over the world come to tourist places such as Goa, where security is very much needed.
Traditionally, the New Year is celebrated on March 1, but due to its religious significance, it is celebrated on 1 January. Due to the increasing trend of western civilization in India, New Year’s Day is considered very important day for India on January 1.
Why does the year begin on January 1st?
The origin of the New Year mostly belongs to France which played a great role in the acceptance of January 1 as the New Year.
- Year 46 BC: January 1st is used for the first time – In the Roman Republic, the year began in March and included 355 days and ten months. In 46 BC, a reform of Julius Caesar gives the year 365 days and 12 months. It starts now on January 1st. This is the birth of the Julian calendar.
- Year 352 AD: This date is taken by the Church, but is not respected everywhere – The Church appropriates this date in 352 with Pope Liberius, on the ground that it corresponds to the day of the circumcision of Jesus, eight days after his birth. But this date cannot win. Depending on the region and the period, the beginning of the year is fixed either on December 25th, sometimes on January 1st, sometimes in March.
- Year 1564: The 1st of January prevails throughout France- The King of France, with the Edict of Roussillon, fixes January 1st the beginning of the calendar year in all France.
- Year 1622: This date applies in all Catholic countries- Since the 1st of January 1622, by the decision of the Saint-Siège, the calendar year begins on the 1st of January in all Catholic countries. January 1 does not mark the transition to the New Year around the world. The Chinese New Year, for example, is celebrated every year between January 21st and February 20th. In the Hebrew calendar, the New Year is celebrated in September or October, during the Rosh Hashanah Feast.
Few ways, The New Year is celebrated in the World
Torches and Vikings in Scotland – This eve, nicknamed “Hogmanay”, lasts three days in Edinburgh. The festivities are launched with the torchlight procession, which takes place on December 30th. Bagpipes disguised and Vikings parade through the streets of the Scottish capital, accompanied by 20,000 torches. On the 31st are fireworks and concerts in the streets of the city.
All in white and water in Rio de Janeiro – Among the most beautiful New Year’s Eve on the planet, there is no doubt that of Rio de Janeiro. Each year, the Brazilian city welcomes nearly 3 million people for the festivities of the New Year. On the program, a big party on the beach, fireworks in all the bay of Copacabana and midnight bath. Brazilian particularity, all participants are dressed in white. Symbol of purity, this color also allows Brazilians to show, with their underwear, once wet, their wishes for the year!
In Cape Town, the party is … January 2nd – Although a party also takes place on the evening of December 31st, the biggest party in South Africa is January 2nd. This is the day Cape Town Minstrels Carnival, also known as the Black Carnival or Second New Year, is held in Cape Town. Originally, this trend of celebrating New Year on 2nd comes from the fact that the black people were not allowed to celebrate New Year’s Day one 1st, but they could instead make a party on January 2nd. The great carnival that takes place each year evokes the segregationist past and celebrates freedom, with colorful costumes.
Burma Water Festival- In Burma and the Burmese calendar, the New Year is not the 1st of January, but on April 13 and for three days! The Buddhist New Year is celebrated on the day of the water festival, called “Thingyan Festival”. For the occasion, the Burmese are engaged in major water battles, which include cleaning the streets and houses. Water is considered a purifying instrument in this country. The opportunity is also used to honor the elderly. The younger usually bring them flowers.
The American “Midnight Kiss” – It’s a tradition that says a lot about American society. A long kiss, in the United States, but also in Canada, is the assurance of not spending his year alone, and to be lucky in love. The practice has been popularized by several films, such as When Harry Meets Sally (1989) and Le Journal de Bridget Jones (2001). And to see hundreds of thousands of people kissing, nothing is better than going to New York, where Time Square’s New Year is part of one of the biggest myths in the city.
Año Viejo in Ecuador- In Ecuador, every December 31, thousands of puppets burn in the streets. These puppets made of old clothes, cardboard or paper serve to ward off bad luck and bad energies before the start of a new year. Ecuador is the country where this tradition is most celebrated; other Latin American countries also practice it. You can see “año viejo” puppets burning in Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and even Mexico.
In Romania, people disguise themselves as bears- Between Christmas and the New Year, Romanians celebrate bears every year. The inhabitants are dressed in the bear skin, which helps to ward off evil spirits of the year that is coming to an end. The costumes worn are often inheritances, transmitted within families from generation to generation.
Between the end and the beginning of a new year, it is usually a fairly widespread custom to make plans, promises, and good intentions, with the intention of correcting certain negative habits or changing certain vitiated attitudes that have created problems for us. And, at the same time, design new strategies or ways of responding to difficulties, setbacks, adversities, and undertake projects, take on challenges.
The New Year shows a new beginning and teaches us to move forward. We have to go ahead with a new hope by learning from what we did in the old year, learned, successful or unsuccessful. Just as we are not sad at the end of the old year but welcome the New Year with great enthusiasm and happiness, in the same way, we should not be sad about the time elapsed in our life. Look forward to thinking about the passage of time, welcome the opportunities and try to improve life through them.
