Tamils, get ready to celebrate the new year

THE first day in January is observed as New Year’s Day in the Western world, which follows the Gregorian calendar. Celebrations often include family gatherings, feasting on good food, drinking, fireworks, enjoying the holi-day atmosphere, taking time to relax and reflect on the past year while making plans for the coming year.

- SARANYA DEVAN

While January is the worldwide New Year’s Day, many religious and linguistic groups have their own New Year’s Day.

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. The Islamic New Year is the first day of Muharram. The New Year is celebrated differently in every Buddhist culture.

The Chinese New Year coincides with the Lunar New Year some time in January.

Among Hindus, there is no common new year’s day. Each Hindu linguistic group – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Gujarati – observes its own new year’s day.

The Tamil New Year in 2025 will be celebrated on April 14 and will be known as Visuvasu Varusham 5126 and the year in benevolence. The Tamil calendar is a lunar calendar, and the year 5126 corresponds to the specific year in that system. Tamil, Visu, vasu, is derived from one of the 60-year cycles in the Tamil calendar. Every cycle has a unique name.