Javanese calendar

 ( Specific Calendars ) 

• the native five-day week, called Pasaran
• the common Gregorian and Islamic seven-day week
• the solar year, called Mangsa
• the lunar year, called Wulan
• the lunar year, or Tahun
• the octo-ennia (8 year) cycles, or Windu
• the 120-year cycle of 15 Windu, called Kurup

A Javanese year will be entirely within a Gregorian year of the same number in the year 4195, after which year the number of the Javanese year will always be greater than the number of the concurrent civil year.

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+ The "Wetonan" Cycle for 2nd week of May ( Mei) 2008:	Sunday 11
Minggu/ Ahad 11
5 Wage

From the example above, the Weton for Tuesday May 6, 2008 would be read as Selasa Wage.

The Wetonan cycle is especially important for divinatory systems, important celebrations, and rites of passage. Commemorations and events are held on days considered to be auspicious.

An especially prominent example, still widely taught in primary schools, is that the Weton for the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence on 17 August 1945 took place on Jumat Legi; this is also the Weton for the birth and death of Sultan Agung, one of the greatest kings of Java and the inventor of the modern Javanese calendar. Therefore, Jumat Legi is considered an important night for pilgrimage. There are also that relate to the cycle; for example, the ritual dance bedhaya can only be performed on Kemis Kliwon.

The coincidence of the Pasaran day with the common day on the day of birth is considered by Javanese to indicate the personal characteristics of that person, similar to the Western Zodiac and planetary positioning in Western astrology.

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Pawukon cycle

Pawukon is a 210-day cycle in Javanese calendar, related to Hindu tradition. Though most associated with Bali, it is still used in Java for special purposes. The calendar consists of concurrent weeks, and has a set of ten weeks, which have a duration of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 days.

The first day of the year is considered the first day of all ten weeks. As 210 is not divisible by 4, 8, or 9, extra days must be added to the 4-, 8-, and 9-day weeks.

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Dates numbering

For timekeeping, days are numbered within the lunar month ( wulan) as is common in other calendar systems. The date indicates the change in the moon, and symbolizes the life of a human in the world. This process of revolving life is known as cakra manggilingan or heru cakra.

On the first day of the month, when the moon is small, it is compared to a newborn baby. The 14th day, called Purnama Sidhi (full moon), represents a married adult. The next day, called Purnama, occurs as the moon begins to wane. The 20th day, Panglong, symbolizes the point at which people begin to lose their memory. The 25th day, Sumurup, represents the point at which the adult requires care like when they were young. The 26th day, Manjing, represents the return of the human to his or her origin.

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Cycles of months

Because a Javanese lunar year is between 11 and 12 days shorter than a civil year, it begins 11–12 days earlier in the civil year following the civil year in which the previous Javanese year began. Once every 33 or 34 Javanese years, or once every 32 or 33 civil years, the beginning of a Javanese year (1 Sura) coincides with one of the first ten days of January. Subsequent New Years move backwards through the civil year back to the beginning of January again, passing through each civil month from December to January.

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Mangsa

The solar year is divided into twelve periods ( mangsa) of unequal length. Its origin lies in agriculture practice in Java. The names of the first ten months are simply the from 1 to 10 in Javanese language, although the names of the 11th and 12th months are unclear. The cycle begins near the June solstice, around the middle of the dry season in Java.

In the 19th century, the solar month system or pranata mangsa was much better known among Javanese than the civil or religious year. The cycle is clearly of Javanese origin, since the specific application to their climate does not match other territories in the Indonesian archipelago, as well as the usage of Javanese names for the months. Although the cycle matches the weather pattern well, it is still clearly somewhat arbitrary, as can be seen in the lengths of the months.

In astrology, the pranata mangsa is used to predict personality traits in a similar manner to in Western astrology. It is not widely used anymore for divination, but some practitioners use it as well as the other cycles in their divination.

The Solar months are :

+ Pranata mangsa ! Starting day !! Name !! Length in days	Description
The dry season; leaves are falling from the trees; the ground is withered and arid, bereft of water "like a jewel that has come free of its setting."
The dry season; parched earth lies in hard clumps; the mango and cotton trees begin to bloom.
The dry season; spice roots are harvested; the gadung tree begins to bear fruit.
Rain begins to fall, as "tears well up in the soul", marking the end of the dry season; birds are singing and busily constructing nests. The Labuh Season is at hand.
The rainy season, sometimes with fierce winds and flooding; mangoes are ripe; snakes are driven from their nests; "a fountain of gold falls across the earth".
The rainy season; lightning strikes and there are landslides; but it is also the season of many fruit.
The rainy season is at its peak; birds are hard pressed to find food, and in many areas there is severe flooding.
The rainy season; rice fields are growing and the cat is looking for his mate; grubs and larvae abound.
The rainy season; rice fields are turning yellow; "happy news is spreading"; water is stored within the earth, the wind blows in one direction, and many fruits are ripe.
Rain yet falls, but is diminishing; the wind rustles and blows hard; the air is still chilly. The Mareng Season is at hand.
The dry season has begun; farmers are harvesting the rice fields; birds tend their young with affection, as if they were "jewels of the heart".
The dry season; water begins to recede, "vanishing from its many places".

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Wulan

Each lunar year ( taun) is divided into a series of twelve wulan/sasi or lunar months. Each consists of 29 or 30 days. This is adapted from the use of months in the Islamic calendar. The names of the month are given below in Javanese and Arabic which can be used interchangeably:

+ Javanese lunar months ! Ngoko (informal) !! Arabic names !! Length of days
30
29
30
29
30
29
30
29
30
29
30
29 or 30

Length of the last month may be 29 or 30 days, depending on whether the year is normal or a leap year ( taun kabisat).

The cycle of months is sometimes considered metaphorically to represent the cycle of human life. The first nine months represent gestation before birth, while the tenth month represents the human in the world, the eleventh the end of his or her existence, and the twelfth the return to where he or she came from. The cycle thus goes from one spark or conception ( rijal) to another, traversing through the void ( suwung).

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Year designation

The Shalivahana era, which started in 78 CE and continues to be used on Bali, was used in Hindu times on Java, and for well over a century after the appearance of Islam on Java.

When Sultan Agung adopted the Islamic lunar calendar in 1633 CE, he did not adopt the Anno Hegirae to designate those years, but instead continued the count of the Shalivahana era, which was 1555 at the time. As a result, the Anno Javanico does not in effect count from any time.

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Cycles of years

Eight tahun makes up a windu. A single windu lasts for 81 repetitions of the wetonan cycle, or 2,835 days (about 7 years 9 months in the Gregorian calendar). The tahun are lunar years, and of shorter length than Gregorian years. The names of the years in the cycle of windu are as follows (in krama/ngoko):

1. Purwana/Alip (354 days)
2. Karyana/Ehé (354 days)
3. Anama/Jemawal (355 days)
4. Lalana/Jé (354 days)
5. Ngawanga/Dal (355 days)
6. Pawaka/Bé (354 days)
7. Wasana/Wawu (354 days)
8. Swasana/Jimakir (355 days)

The windu are then grouped into a cycle of four:

1. Windu Adi
2. Windu Kunthara
3. Windu Sengara
4. Windu Sancaya

The cycles of wulan, tahun, and windu are derived from the Saka calendar.

Windu' are no longer used much in horoscopy, but there is evidence that it was previously used by court officials to predict trends. The passing of a windu is often seen as a milestone and deserving a slametan ritual feast.

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Kurup

The kurup is a period of 120 tahun, or lunar years. There are thus 1440 lunar months, or 15 windu in a kurup. One day is dropped from the last month of Besar having 30 days, resulting in the last windu of the kurup having one less day than usual. Thus, the total number of days in a kurup is 42,524 (2,835 days in a windu x 15 windu - 1 day). This is the same number of days as in 120 lunar years of the Tabular Islamic Calendar.

Each kurup is named for date of the wetonan cycle on which the kurup commences. As this always falls in the Alip (first) year of the windu, it is prefixed with Alip. The current kurup started on Tuesday, March 24 of 1936 CE, which corresponds to Muharram 01 of 1355 AH in the Tabular Islamic Calendar, and will end on Sunday, August 25 of 2052 CE. As the wetonan date of that day was Selasa Pon, the kurup is named Alip Selasa Pon.

The next kurup will commence on Monday, August 26 of 2052 CE, which corresponds to Muharram 01 of 1475 AH in the Tabular Islamic Calendar, and will end on Saturday, January 28 of 2169 CE, and will be named Alip Senin Pahing.Penanggalan Jawa 120 Tahun Kurup Asapon déning H. Danudji, Dahara Prize, Edisi Pertama 2006,

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Dina Mulya

Dina Mulya (ꦢꦶꦤꦩꦸꦭꦾ, literally "noble days") are celebrated by worshipping Gusti, the creator of life and the universe. Practitioners of traditional Javanese spiritual teachings have preserved several noble days:

• Satu Sura, the first of Sura, the New Year
• Anggara Kasih : Tuesday Kliwon
• Dina Purnama: Jemuah Legi/Sukra Manis (Friday Legi)

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See also

• Islamic calendar
• Pawukon calendar, a Balinese numeric calendar of 210 days per year
• Balinese saka calendar, a lunisolar calendar
• Sundanese calendar, a lunisolar calendar

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Further reading

• Pigeaud, Th., Javaans-Nederlands Woordenboek. Groningen–Jakarta: J.B. Wolters, 1938
• Quinn, George The Javanese science of 'burglary' , RIMA. Review of Indonesian and Malaysian Affairs, IX:1 January–June 1975. pp. 33–54.
• Ricklefs, M.C., Modern Javanese historical tradition: a study of an original Kartasura chronicle and related materials. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1978
• Soebardi. Calendrical traditions in Indonesia Madjalah IIlmu-ilmu Satsra Indonesia, 1965 no.3.

Categories: Specific Calendars, Culture Of Indonesia, Calendar, Sultan Agung