Shaka Samvat: the national era

What it is

Shaka Samvat (Saka era) is a year count whose year zero is placed in the first century of the common era. Its start is linked to the vernal equinox of that year. Where it came from is still debated. The Western Satraps, Shaka (Indo-Scythian) rulers of Ujjain, are among the first known to date their coins with it.

The era became widely used in India. Astronomers such as Varahamihira and Brahmagupta used it in their works, and by the sixth and seventh centuries it was common. It is still used in parts of South and West India and was carried to Java and Bali. The Balinese calendar still uses a Saka count.

Converting to the Gregorian year

• After the Shaka new year begins, Shaka Samvat is the Gregorian year minus 78.
• Before the Shaka new year begins, it is the Gregorian year minus 79.

The Shaka year changes in spring, not on the first of January, so for a few months at the start of each Gregorian year the difference is 79.

When the year starts

In the lunisolar Shaka calendar, the year begins on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, the day after the New Moon of Chaitra. This is the same day on which the Chaitradi Vikram Samvat year begins. The festival is celebrated as Ugadi in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, and as Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra.

So on that day both the Vikram and the Shaka numbers go up by one. The Vikram year is about 135 ahead of the Shaka year, because their starting points are 135 years apart. This is easy to check against the two rules above (57 and minus 78 add up to 135).

The national calendar

In 1957 India adopted a civil calendar based on the Shaka era, called the Indian national calendar or Saka calendar. It is a solar calendar, with its first month, Chaitra, beginning close to the spring equinox. It is used mainly in official government notices and for some official dates, and most people still use the Gregorian calendar for daily life and the traditional Hindu calendar for religious dates.

Do not confuse the two. The national calendar is a fixed solar calendar. The lunisolar Shaka year used for religious purposes depends on the Moon and begins on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada.

Where it is used

The lunisolar Shaka calendar is common in South and West India for religious ceremonies and for agricultural timing. Priests often name the Shaka year, the Vikram year or both when they recite the sankalpa, the statement of intent at the start of a puja. Which one you hear depends on the priest's region and tradition.

Reading a printed calendar

A calendar from India may give the Shaka year, the Vikram year, and a named year from the sixty-year cycle, such as a samvatsara name. These are three different ways of marking the same year. The name from the sixty-year cycle repeats every 60 years and has no number you can calculate from the Gregorian year using these simple rules.

What this site shows

The site shows the Shaka year as a second count next to the Vikram Samvat year. The Shaka year begins on the same day as the Chaitradi Vikram year, and the number follows the rule above.