Siddhantis to fix festival dates

Senior siddhantis from various parts of the state will converge for a summit at the temple town of Basara on October 3 to standardise the Telugu panchangam or almanac.

Mr V. Mrutyunjaya Sarma, who is coordinating the event, said as many as 30 senior siddhantis sort out differences among various panchangas on events such as festivals, muhurats and eclipses.

In recent years, there have been differences among siddhantis even on festivals such as Ugadi, the Telugu New Year, often forcing people to celebrate it on two different days.

“The idea is to evolve a code of ethics for siddhantis in the state,” said Mr Sarma, who also heads the Medak district unit of AP Brahmins Association. “Panchangam prepared by different siddhantis follow different patterns.”

“Unfortunately, over a period of time the standards have fallen and siddhantis often end up as a laughing stock,” he added.

The Telugu almanac is based on the calculations of Bhaskara II dating back to the 12th century. The Telugu lunar calendar has a cycle of 60 years and the interpolation of the solar calendar has often led to differences among siddhantis on when the actual muhurat of an event or festival begins.

The senior siddhanthi from Tirupati, Tangirala Poornachandra Siddhanti, will chair the event. “We will also discuss how to expose bogus siddhantis,” said Mr Sarma. “Only well qualified siddhantis should be allowed to prepare the almanac.”