Nirayana system

The nirayana system is a traditional Indian system of calendrical computations in which the phenomenon of precession of equinoxes is not taken into consideration.[1] In Indian astronomy, the precession of equinoxes is called ayana-calana which literally means shifting of the solstices and so nirayana is nir- + ayana meaning without ayana.[2] Ayanacalana refers to the continuous backward movement of the point of intersection of the ecliptic (which is a fixed circle) and the celestial equator (which keeps on moving backward). In contrast, the Indian systems of calendrical computations which take into consideration the effects of precession of equinoxes are called sayana systems.

  1. ^ Govt of India (1955). Report of the calendar reform committee. New Delhi: Council of Scientific and Industrial Reseaarch. p. 259. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  2. ^ Article titled "Precession of the Equinoxes" and authored by K. V. Sarma in: Helaine Selin (2008). Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer. pp. 1830–1831. ISBN 978-1-4020-4559-2.