Sri Ramakrishna’s 175th Birth Anniversary : The Yearlong Celebration’s Concluding Programme and Sri Ramakrishna’s 177th Birthday Celebration : Watch LIVE from 22. Feb to 26. Feb 2012

Maha Shivratri ( Sanskrit:महा शिवरात्रि, Tamil:மகா சிவராத்திரி, Hindi:महाशिवरात्रि Nepali: महाशिवरात्रि) or Maha Sivaratri or Shivaratri or Sivarathri (Great Night of Shiva or Night of Shiva) is a Hindu festival celebrated every year on the 13th night/14th day in the Krishna Paksha (waning moon) of the month of Maagha (as per Shalivahana or Gujarati Vikrama) or Phalguna (as per Vikrama) in the Hindu Calendar (that is, the night before and day of the new moon). The festival is principally celebrated by offerings of Bael (Bilva) leaves to the Lord Shiva, all day fasting and an all night long vigil. Per scriptural and discipleship traditions, the penances are performed in order to gain boons in the practice of Yoga and meditation, in order to reach life’s summum bonum steadily and swiftly. International Mandi Shivratri Fair is held every year.

Shiva-ratri (Magha-krishna-chaturdashi) :

Shiva-ratri is observed on the 14th lunar day of the dark fortnight of the month of Magha (February-March). Watch LIVE Feb. 20. 2012 http://www.belurmath.org/siva_ratri.htm

Mahashivaratri is on February 19th in Entire North America, Canada, and United Kingdom. For Middle East, India, Srilanka, Malaysia, China, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Newzeland and Fiji Mahashivaratri is on Feburary 20th 2012. Please remember there is no Chaturdashi during 20th February’s midnight in America, Canada and United Kingdom. Hence If you are observing Mahashivaratri on February 20th in America, Canada, and United Kingdom you are observing amavasya not mahashivaratri. However in Middle East, India, Srilanka, Malaysia, China, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Newzeland and Fiji Mahashivaratri is on Feburary 20th 2012.


http://www.belurmath.org/siva_ratri.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sivarathri

Hindu Festivals 2012 Time Table:
http://www.mypanchang.com/hindufestivals2012.php

 

#video Samoa switches time zones to help trade

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnccpv_samoa-switches-time-zones-to-help-trade_news


http://www.stwr.org/imf-world-bank-trade/ http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/

Change Trade, Not our Climate http://www.ourworldisnotforsale.org/

 

The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar.[1][2][3] It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter gravissimas.[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar

 

The following are tropical solar calendars:

Gregorian calendar

Julian calendar

Bahá’í calendar

Coptic calendar

Iranian calendar (JalÄli Calendar) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_calendar

 

A lunar calendar is a calendar that is based on cycles of the lunar phase. A common purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar or Hijri Qamari calendar. A feature of the Islamic calendar is that a year is always 12 months, so the months are not linked with the seasons and drift each solar year by 11 to 12 days. It comes back to the position it had in relation to the solar year approximately every 33 Islamic years. It is used mainly for religious purposes, and in Saudi Arabia it is also used for commercial purposes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_calendar

The hindu calendar used in ancient times has undergone many changes in the process of regionalization, and today there are several regional Indian calendars, as well as an Indian national calendar. Nepali calendar, Bengali calendar, Malayalam calendar, Tamil calendar, Telugu calendar, Kannada calendar etc. are some prominent regional Hindu calendars.[1]

Most of these calendars are inherited from a system first enunciated in Vedanga Jyotisha of Lagadha, a late BCE adjunct to the Vedas, standardized in the Surya Siddhanta (3rd century CE) and subsequently reformed by astronomers such as Aryabhata (499 CE), Varahamihira (6th c. CE), and Bhaskara (12th c. CE). Differences and regional variations abound in these computations, but the following is a general overview of Hindu lunisolar calendar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_calendar