Origin Of New Year

New Year is the world's most popularly celebrated festival. Perhaps, everybody would like to know how these celebrations began, from where it originated and what is so important about the festival. Let's give you an insight to the origin of this grand event in a brief form.

Origin of New Year dates back to the era of emperors. They thought of celebrating a special day which should dot a day for beginning and end of the year. First New Year celebrations were noticed in Mesopotamia around 2000 years. It was celebrated at the time of Equinox in mid-March by the Egyptians, Persians and Phoenicians while Greeks celebrated it on winter solstice.

Ancient New Year Calendar
First New Year celebrations were noticed in Mesopotamia around 2000 years. It was celebrated at the time of Equinox in mid-March by the Egyptians, Persians and Phoenicians while Greeks celebrated it on winter solstice.
As per the ancient Roman calendar New Year fell on March 1. This calendar just had ten months and March was the first month of the year. The calendar originated by the cycles of the moon, beginning in spring and ending with autumn planting.

Inclusion of Two Calendar Months
It was Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome who divided the year into twelve lunar months by adding the months of January and February. The New Year was shifted to January as it marked the beginning of the civil years in Rome. But this was not fully accepted by the people of Rome and they continued celebrating in the month of March only.

January 1- an Official Date of New Year Celebrations
The Roman emperor Julius Caesar officially declared January 1 to be a New Year in 46 B.C. Romans worshiped God Janus who had two faces, one looking forward and the other looking backward. The month of January was named after this Roman God and it gave an idea to the emperor to establish January as a gate to the New Year. It is said Caesar celebrated January 1 - New Year by ordering the revolutionary Jewish forces to route back.

People began New Year celebrations on January 1 after many years. They ritualized the beginning of the year by acting and re-enacting the world of the past before peace proliferated. People learned January as first month of the year and with this the tradition of following Julian calendar.

Abolition of Roman New Year Date
In the medieval period, pagan festivals were given more importance and March 25 was announced as the beginning of the New Year. March 25 was called the Annunciation Day as on this day Mary got the news that she should be impregnated.

Later, the King of England ensured that Jesus' birth December 25 should be commemorated as New Year.

Gregorian Calendar
About 500 years later, Pope Gregory XIII abolished the old Julian calendar and introduced Gregorian calendar which comprised of a leap year after every four years to maintain balance between seasons and calendar. Finally, in 1582, Gregorian calendar was set to celebrate New Year on the first day of January.

Funny New Year Resolutions

Check out these funny and innovative New Year's Resolutions! Enjoy these and make some for yourself...Surely you will enjoy!!

• Just for today, I will not sit in my living room all day in my nightdress. Instead, I will move my computer into the bedroom.
  
  
• I will no longer waste my time relieving the past, instead I will spend it worrying about the future.
  
  
• I will not bore my boss by with the same excuse for taking leaves. I will think of some more excuses.
  
  
• I will do less laundry and use more deodorant.
  
  
• I will avoid taking a bath whenever possible and conserve more water.
  
  
• Assure my lawyer that I will never again show up drunk at a custody hearing.
  
  
• I will give up chocolates totally. 100%. Completely. Honestly....
  
  
• I will try to figure out why I *really* need nine e-mail addresses.
  
  
• I will stop sending e-mails to my wife (husband).
  
  
• I resolve to work with neglected children -- my own.
  
  
• I will stop sending e-mail, ICQ, Instant Messages and be on the phone at the same time with the same person.
  
  
• I will spend less than one hour a day on the Internet. This, of course, will be hard to estimate since I'm not a clock watcher.
  
  
• I will read the manual... just as soon as I can find it.
  
  
• I will think of a password other than "password."
  
  
• I will not tell the same story at every get together.
  
  
• I won't worry so much.
  
  
• I will cut my hair.
  
  
• I will grow my hair.
  
  
• I will stop considering other people's feelings when they so obviously don't consider mine - if that unwashed fellow sits next to me again, I'll tell him he stinks!
  
  
• I will be more imaginative.
  
  
• I will not hang around girls - they think you love them and that sucks.
  
  
• I will not ring the stewardess button on airplanes just to get her phone number.
  
  

Resolutions You Would be Tempted to Keep...
For those who are scared of making resolutions here are some resolutions they would actually be tempted to keep!!

• Spend more time watching TV / movies.
• Chat more over phone / Internet.
• Read less.
• I want to gain weight. Put on at least 30 pounds.
• Stop exercising. Waste of time.
• Procrastinate more.
• Drink. Drink some more.
• Start being superstitious.
• Spend more less time at work.
• Stop bringing lunch from home: I should eat out more.
• Take up a new habit: Maybe smoking!

List of New Year's Recipes

Gajar ki Kanji
Ingredients
250 gm: Carrots-preferably the dark variety (called kaali gajar)
3 tbsp: Powdered mustard seeds
6 cups: Water
2 tbsp: Salt

Method

1. Peel the carrots, and cut them into approx. 7 cm / 3" pieces, not too thin (about finger size).
2. Boil the water and add the carrots to it. When the water comes to a boil again, shut off the heat and leave to cool.
3. Add the salt and the mustard powder, and transfer into a jar with a lid, and keep this in the sun, to mature.
4. In sunny weather, it takes 3-4 days, for the taste of the mustard to become strong.
5. Do not keep the jar in the sun, after it is ready.

Malpua

Ingredients
250 ml: Yoghurt
3 tbsp: Flour
1 tsp: Roasted Fennel Seeds
3-4 tbsp: Ghee / oil for frying

For Sugar Syrup
200 gm sugar
200 ml water
Rind of 1 sweet lime

Method

1. Mix yoghurt, flour and fennel seeds.
2. Stir until a smooth batter is formed.
3. Heat ghee / oil in a pan and make dumplings by frying a spoonful of the batter at a time over a gentle flame.
4. Remove from the pan and drain.
5. Prepare the syrup with sugar, water and rind. Dip the malpuas into the syrup.
6. Garnish with sweet lime segments and cream. Decorate with silver leaf.
7. Serve hot / cold.

New Year's Eve

The world follows the Gregorian calendar, therefore at the stroke of midnight on the last day of the year, the old year paves the way for the New Year. With the arrival of the New Year, all the old regrets are tossed out, old heartburns swept aside the whole world gets busy with new resolutions, new courage to face the world and new grit and determination. Before sunrise on the New Year's Day, on New Year's eve, many new resolutions give birth to many new hopes for the year that will arrive.The practice of celebrating the passing away of the old year and welcoming the New Year with open arms is not of recent origin. It is centuries old.


Old thoughts and old ambitions give way to newer ones, but the end result is something like having the old wine in a new bottle.The most distinctive feature of New Year's Eve celebration is the New Year's Eve party.In many hotels a theme party is held on this day, there are fancy dress celebrations too. The party continues till a new dawn breaks over the horizon. The smooth transition of the old year into the New Year is counted as a blessing.