New Year Festival
Every community has its share of festivals. People belonging to different faiths celebrate their religious festivals in keeping with their culture and traditions. However, the New Year festival of celebrating the first day of the year is perhaps the most widely celebrated festival. Historical records reveal that the earliest instance of New Year celebration happened in Mesopotamia in 2000 BCE. Here, in Babylonia, the new year Akitu was ushered in with the graceful new moon, right after the spring equinox (mid-March). Different civilizations celebrated the new year on different dates. Autumn Equinox (September 21) was the new year day for the Persians, Egyptians, and the Phoenicians. The Greeks chose to start their year with the winter solstice (December 21). The Roman republican calendar initially began on 1 st March, however, after 153 BCE, the date was set back to 1 st of January and this continued till 46 BCE. The modern day custom of celebrating 1 st...