The fixation of time for Fire-worships and rites was of prime importance in the Vedic traditions.The apparent movement of the Sun, Moon, and a Zodiacal system along the path of the Sun/Moon with nak atras (asterisms or a group of stars) were used to develop a reasonable dependable calendar maintaining a uniformity in observation of nak atras, from which the antiquity of these early traditions could be fixed up. The gvedic tradition recognized the northern and the southern ( uttar yana and dak i yana) motionsof the Sun, referred originally to six nak atras(raised to 28 or 27) including A vin nak atra citing it about 52 times. It recommended the beginning of the Year and a calendric system with the heliacal rising of A vin at the Winter solstice. When A vin was no longer found at Winter solstice because of the anti-clockwise motion of the zodiacal nak atra s due to precision (not known at the time), the Full-moon at Citr nak atra in opposition to the Sun at Winter solstice was taken into account as a marker for the Year- beginning, resulting in the counting of the lunar months from Caitra at the Winter solstice during Yajurvedic Sa hit time. The same system continued during the Br hma ic tradition with the exception that it changed the Year-beginning to the New-moon of the month of M gha (when Sun and Moon were together after 15 days of Full-moon at Magh nak atra), resulting in the corroboration of the statement, `K ttik nak atra rises in the east'. TheVe d ga-jyauti continued the same counting system from the New-moon, assigning the beginning of ravi h segment of the nak atras as the beginning of 5-year Yuga at Winter solstice. The antiquity of these gvedic, Yajurvedic, Br hma ic and Ved ga-jyauti a traditions may be found by comparing the old and new longitudes of nak atras and fixed at 6500 BC, 5000 BC, 2500 BC and 1000 BC respectively after corrections due to visibility error. This system of astronomical dating, based on long uniform pattern of observations, are possible in a culture obsessed with satisfactory domestic cultivation and regular worships. The Harappan tradition around c.2000 BC followed the Yajurvedic tradition of counting of month from the Full-moon in a star in opposition, still prevalent in some parts of North India, unlike New-moon Br hma ic system in South India. The calendric elements were found to be luni-solar, and in the process, the types of years, months, days, day-lengths, intercalation, seasons, nak atra snak atra space (a a, bh a)tith, full-moon & new-moon in a Yuga, eighteen/nineteen years' cycle for adjustment of synodic tropical year with lunar year have been explained and discussed.
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