The Balinese saka calendar is one of two calendars used on the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

n island of

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

. Unlike the 210-day pawukon calendar, it is based on the

phases of the Moon Concerning the lunar month of ~29.53 days as viewed from Earth, the lunar phase or Moon phase is the shape of the Moon's directly sunlit portion, which can be expressed quantitatively using areas or angles, or described qualitatively using the t ...

, and is approximately the same length as the

tropical year A tropical year or solar year (or tropical period) is the time that the Sun takes to return to the same position in the sky of a celestial body of the Solar System such as the Earth, completing a full cycle of seasons; for example, the time f ...

(solar year, Gregorian year).

Months

Based on a lunar calendar, the saka year comprises twelve months, or ''sasih'', of 30 days each. However, because the lunar cycle is slightly shorter than 30 days, and the

lunar year A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases ( synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, the Gr ...

has a length of 354 or 355 days, the calendar is adjusted to prevent it losing synchronization with the lunar or solar cycles. The months are adjusted by allocating two lunar days to one solar day every 9 weeks. This day is called ''ngunalatri'',

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

for "minus one night". To stop the Saka from deviating unduly from the solar year as happens with the

Islamic calendar The Hijri calendar ( ar, ٱلتَّقْوِيم ٱلْهِجْرِيّ, translit=al-taqwīm al-hijrī), also known in English as the Muslim calendar and Islamic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or ...

an extra month, known as an intercalary month, is added after the 11th month (when it is known as Mala Jiyestha), or after the 12th month (Mala Sadha). The length of these months is calculated according to the normal 63-day cycle. An intercalary month is added whenever necessary to prevent the final day of the 7th month, known as Tilem Kapitu, from falling in the Gregorian month of December. The names the twelve months are taken from a mixture of Old Balinese and Sanskrit words for 1 to 12, and are as follows:Esimeman (1989) pp186-190 # Kasa # Karo # Katiga # Kapat # Kalima # Kanem # Kapitu # Kawalu # Kasanga # Kadasa # Jyestha # Sadha Each month begins the day after a new moon and has 15 days of waxing moon until the full moon (''Purnama''), then 15 days of waning, ending on the new moon (''Tilem''). Both sets of days are numbered 1 to 15. The first day of the year is usually the day after the first new moon in March.Esimeman (1989) pp 159,186 Note, however, that Nyepi falls on the first day of Kadasa, and that the years of the Saka era are counted from that date.

Use

Year numbering in the calendar is 78 years behind the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

, and is calculated from (its "

epoch In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured. The moment of epoch is usually decided by ...

" is) the beginning of the

Saka Era The Shaka era (IAST: Śaka, Śāka) is a historical Hindu calendar era (year numbering), the epoch (its year zero) of which corresponds to Julian year 78. The era has been widely used in different regions of India as well as in SE Asia. Hist ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is used alongside the 210-day

Balinese pawukon calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a physi ...

, and Balinese festivals can be calculated according to either year. The Indian saka calendar was used for royal decrees as early as the ninth century CE.Haer ''et al'', pp 24, 228 The same calendar was used in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

until Sultan Agung replaced it with the

Javanese calendar The Javanese calendar ( jv, ꦥꦤꦁꦒꦭ꧀ꦭꦤ꧀ꦗꦮ, Pananggalan Jawa) is the calendar of the Javanese people. It is used concurrently with two other calendars, the Gregorian calendar and the Islamic calendar. The Gregorian calendar ...

in 1633.Ricklefs (1981), p.43

Notable days

The Balinese Hindu festival of

Nyepi Nyepi is a Balinese "Day of Silence" that is commemorated every ''Isakawarsa'' (Saka new year) according to the Balinese calendar (in 2023, it falls on March 22). It is a Balinese celebration mainly celebrated in Bali, Indonesia. Nyepi, a publi ...

, the day of silence, marks the start of the Saka year. Tilem Kepitu, the last day of the 7th month, is known as Siva Ratri, and is a night dedicated to the god

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

. Devotees stay up all night and meditate. There are another 24 ceremonial days in the Saka year, usually celebrated at ''Purnama''.

References

Bibliography

* Eiseman, Fred B. Jr, ''Bali: Sekalia and Niskala Volume I: Essays on Religion, Ritual and Art'' pp 182–185, Periplus Editions, 1989 * Haer, Debbie Guthrie; Morillot, Juliette & Toh, Irene (Eds) (1995) ''Bali, a Traveller's Companion'', Editions Didier Millet. * Hobart, Angela; Ramseyer, Urs & Leeman, Albert (1996) ''The Peoples of Bali'', Blackwell Publishers. * Ricklefs, M.C; ''A History of Modern Indonesia'', MacMillan, {{calendars Specific calendars

Saka The Saka ( Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...