{{about|sun-related term in Indian religions|the American tribe|Cheraw|other uses|Saura (disambiguation)}} thumb|''Saura'' connotes sun (surya). '''Saura''' is a term which refers to the solar days and months in Vedic era and medieval Indian calendars, to differentiate them from lunar system in the lunisolar calendars.<ref name="Dershowitz2008p123"/>
== Etymology == ''Saura'' is a term found in Indian religions, and it connotes "sun" (Surya) or anything "solar"-related.<ref name="Dershowitz2008p123">{{cite book|author1=Nachum Dershowitz|author2=Edward M. Reingold|title=Calendrical Calculations|title-link= Calendrical Calculations |year= 2008|publisher= Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-88540-9|pages=123–128}}</ref><ref name=mmwsaurya>Monier Monier-Williams, [http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/1200/mw__1287.html सौर, saura], Sanskrit-English Dictionary and Etymology, Oxford University Press, page 1254</ref>
The earliest mention of the term ''Saura'' is in Vedic and Upanishadic texts of Hinduism. For example, it appears in chapter 7.2 of the ''Sankhayana Aranyaka'' embedded in the ''Rigveda'',<ref>{{cite book|author1=Arthur Anthony Macdonell|author2=Arthur Berriedale Keith|title=Vedic Index of Names and Subjects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U5GaKHfNzScC|year=1995|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1333-5|pages=392 footnote for Sura–vira Mandukya}}</ref> and in the ''Maitri Upanishad'', in both it contextually means ''Surya''. In the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Puranas'', the term is used to refer to the Sauras, worshippers of the sun deity.<ref name=mmwsaurya/> In esoteric Buddhism, the term appears in the context of yogi and deity, with alternate spelling of ''savara''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Miranda Eberle Shaw|title=Buddhist Goddesses of India|url=https://archive.org/details/buddhistgoddesse00shaw |url-access=registration|year = 2006|publisher =Princeton University Press|isbn=0-691-12758-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/buddhistgoddesse00shaw/page/201 201]–202, 478 note 34}}</ref>
== Overview == The solar day and months in the Vedic era calendars and in the medieval Indian calendars are prefaced as ''saura'', to differentiate them from lunar system in the lunisolar calendars.<ref name="Dershowitz2008p123"/> However, the name of ''saura'' months in Vedic texts and medieval texts are different, with the medieval era linking it to the zodiac system that is same as and influenced by the Greek zodiac system. Timekeeping as well as the nature of solar and moon movements are mentioned in Vedic texts.{{Sfn|Yukio Ohashi|1993|pp=185–251}} For example, Kaushitaki Brahmana chapter 19.3 mentions the shift in the relative location of the sun towards north for 6 months, and south for 6 months.{{Sfn|Yukio Ohashi|1999|p=720}}{{Sfn|Kim Plofker|2009|pp=35–42}}
A ''saura'' ({{langx|sa|सौर}}) day is defined in medieval Hindu texts as the period during which the sun stays within one degree of an ecliptic arc. A ''saura'' month is defined in two ways. One, as the period in which the sun stays within one zodiac sign. Second, as the period of thirty intervals of sunrises.<ref name=mmwsaurya/>
A complete list of ''saura'' months of the Vedic era is found in the ''Yajurveda'' (~1000 BCE). It is so different from the names of ancient Persian/Avestan months, according to Louis Gray, that it "precludes any possibility of mutual influence" between their two calendar system.<ref name=gray194>Louis H. Gray (1904), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/527863 The Origin of the Names of the Avesta Months], The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, University of Chicago Press, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Apr., 1904), pp. 194-201</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Peter |first1=John |title=Zodiac Signs |url=https://urbanzodiacs.com/ |access-date=15 December 2022}}</ref>
The Vedic solar months were grouped into six by the names given to the months. The "sweet" months – Madhu and Madhava – corresponded to spring. The "bright" months to summer, the "cloudy" names to monsoons, the "sapful" nomenclature for autumn harvest, the "forceful" to winter, and the "ascetic" names – Tapas and Tapasya – reminding of two months of meditation and austere life.<ref name=gray194/> Both the Vedic ''saura'' month names and the zodiac-based month names are found in different chapters of the ''Bhagavata Purana''. Its chapter 12.11, contains almost identical solar month names as the ''Yajurveda'', with the exception of ''Sahasya'' which is named as ''Pusya''.<ref name="Thompson2007p66">{{cite book|author=Richard L. Thompson|title=The Cosmology of the Bhagavata Purana: Mysteries of the Sacred Universe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TZmDSr-1msC&pg=PA66 |year=2007|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1919-1|page=66}}</ref> Further, the ''Bhagavata Purana'' links each Vedic solar month to one of the twelve Adityas.<ref name="Thompson2007p66"/>
{| class="wikitable" align=center style = " background: transparent; " |+ Saura months in Hindu texts<ref name="Dershowitz2008p123"/><ref>{{cite book|author=B. Richmond|title=Time Measurement and Calendar Construction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wwEVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA79|year=1956|publisher=Brill Archive|pages=79, 77–82}}</ref> |-style="text-align: center;" | width=100px style="background: #ffad66;" | Vedic | width=100px | Medieval | | Linked Aditya<ref name="Thompson2007p66"/> |-style="text-align: center;" | Madhu | Meṣa | Mar-Apr | Dhata |-style="text-align: center;" | Madhava | Vṛṣabha | Apr-May | Aryama |-style="text-align: center;" | Sukra | Mithuna | May-Jun | Mitra |-style="text-align: center;" | Suchi | Karka | Jun-Jul | Varuna |-style="text-align: center;" | Nabhas | Siṃha | Jul-Aug | Indra |-style="text-align: center;" | Nabhasya | Kanya | Aug-Sep | Vivasvan |-style="text-align: center;" | Issa | Tula | Sep-Oct | Tvasta |-style="text-align: center;" | Urja | Vrscika | Oct-Nov | Vishnu |-style="text-align: center;" | Sahas | Dhanus | Nov-Dec | Amsu |-style="text-align: center;" | Sahasya | Makara | Dec-Jan | Bhaga |-style="text-align: center;" | Tapas | Kumbha | Jan-Feb | Pusa |-style="text-align: center;" | Tapasya | Mina | Feb-Mar | Parjanya |}
Earlier scholars believed that the sun (saura), moon (soma), planets, zodiac-based astrology systems now called Hindu astrology is a field that developed in the centuries after the arrival of Greek astrology with Alexander, {{Sfn|Yukio Ohashi|1999|pp=719–721}}{{sfn|Pingree|1981}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Erik Gregersen|title=The Britannica Guide to the History of Mathematics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qZ3zVmLUcjcC|year=2011|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-61530-127-0|page=187}}</ref> because their zodiac signs are nearly identical. But it has been proven that Greeks learned this knowledge from early Indians.<ref name=jameslochtefeldsca326>James Lochtefeld (2002), "Jyotisha" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|0-8239-2287-1}}, pages 326–327</ref>
== See also == *Saura Purana
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
== Bibliography == {{refbegin|2}} *{{cite book|author=Kim Plofker|author-link=Kim Plofker|title=Mathematics in India |title-link= Mathematics in India (book) |year=2009 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-12067-6 }} *{{citation|last=Pingree |first= David | title= Jyotihśāstra : Astral and Mathematical Literature| publisher= Otto Harrassowitz| year= 1981| isbn= 978-3447021654 }} *{{cite book|author=Yukio Ohashi|editor=Johannes Andersen|title=Highlights of Astronomy, Volume 11B|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gQYscrT0fgQC|year=1999|publisher=Springer Science|isbn=978-0-7923-5556-4}} *{{cite journal|author=Yukio Ohashi| title=Development of Astronomical Observations in Vedic and post-Vedic India| year=1993|journal=Indian Journal of History of Science|volume=28|number=3}} {{refend}}
{{Hindu calendar}} {{Calendars}} {{Time in religion and mythology}} {{Hindudharma}}
Category:Solar calendars Category:Hindu astronomy Category:Hindu astrology Category:Surya