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Puthandu (Tamil ''Puttāṇṭu''), better known as Tamil New Year, is the celebration of the first day of the Tamil new year in mid-April by Tamils in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in India, Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka, and by Tamils in Malaysia, Singapore, Réunion and Mauritius. On this day, Tamil people greet each other by saying "Puttāṇṭu vāḻttukkaḷ!" () or "Iṉiya tamiḻ puttāṇṭu nalvāḻttukkaḷ!" (). The festive occasion is in keeping with the Hindu solar calendar. ==Origin and significance== The Tamil New Year follows the vernal equinox and generally falls on 14 April of the Gregorian year. 14 April marks the first day of the traditional Tamil calendar and is a public holiday in both Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. The Tropical vernal equinox falls around 22 March, and adding 23 degrees of trepidation or oscillation provides the Hindu sidereal transition or ''Nirayana Mesha Sankranti'' (the solar transition into the constellation of Aries). The Tamil calendar thus begins on the same date observed by most traditional calendars in India as in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Manipur, Mithila, Odisha, Punjab, Tripura, Nepal, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The 60-year cycle is ancient and is observed by most traditional calendars of India and China, and is related to 5 revolutions of Jupiter, or to 60-year orbit of ''Nakshatras'' (stars) as described in the ''Surya Siddhanta''. The 60 year cycle comes by 5 revolutions of Jupiter and 2 revolutions of Saturn. The relative position of Jupiter and Saturn in one particular year will be repeated after 60 years. The 60 year cycle was essentially conceived for predicting the climate of a particular year, as the relative position of the two major planets, Jupiter and Saturn, is recognized for its impact on climate.〔Indian Epigraphy, D.C. Sircar, TamilNet, Tamil New Year, 13.04.2008〕 The traditional Tamil year starts on 14 April 2016 (Yuga 5118 ). The year may also be dated according to the Vikram Samvat or Saka era. There are several references in early Tamil literature to the April new year. Nakkirar, Sangam period author of the ''Neṭunalvāṭai'', wrote in the third century that the sun travels from Mesha/Chitterai through 11 successive signs of the zodiac.〔Lines 160 to 162 of the Nedunalvaadai〕 Kūdalūr Kizhaar in the 3rd century refers to Mesha Raasi/Chitterai as the commencement of the year in the Puṟanāṉūṟu.〔Poem 229 of Puṟanāṉūṟu〕〔Professor Vaiyapuri Pillai, 'History of Tamil Language and Literature' Chennai, 1956, pages 35, 151〕 The Tolkaapiyam is the oldest surviving Tamil grammar that divides the year into six seasons where Chitterai marks the start of the Ilavenil season or summer. The 8th century Silappadikaaram mentions the 12 Raasis or zodiac signs starting with Mesha/Chitterai.〔Canto 26 of Silappadikaaram. Canto 5 also describes the foremost festival in the Chola country – the Indra Vizha celebrated in Chitterai〕 The Manimekalai alludes to the Hindu solar calendar as we know it today. Adiyarkunalaar, an early medieval commentator or Urai-asiriyar mentions the twelve months of the Tamil calendar with particular reference to Chitterai. There were subsequent inscriptional references in Pagan, Burma dated to the 11th century CE and in Sukhothai, Thailand dated to the 14th century CE to South Indian, often Vaishnavite, courtiers who were tasked with defining the traditional calendar that began in mid-April.〔G.H. Luce, Old Burma – Early Pagan, Locust Valley, New York, Page 68, and A.B. Griswold, 'Towards a History of Sukhodaya Art, Bangkok 1967, pages 12–32〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Puthandu」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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