Indian New Year Vikrami Samvat 2079 and Vaisakhi festival 

Chandigarh, April 19, 2022: An event on the Tradition and Importance of the Traditional Indian New Year Vikrami Samvat 2079 and Vaisakhi festival was organized by the department of Sanskrit, Panjab University today. The students of MA Sanskrit first and second years participated in the event. Rangoli making, group song, poetry recitation, dance, and so forth were the various activities in which students participated with great enthusiasm.

The chairperson Professor Virendra Kumar Alankar briefly introduced the participants and audience with the ancient Indian conception of time. “Fundamentally, time is one, but is divided on the basis of solar movements”, said the chairperson. He also told how Bhartrihari in the 6th-7th century CE stated the nature of fundamental time in his work titled Vakyapadiyam.

Guest faculty member Bharadwaj Bargai was the anchor of this event. Another faculty member Dr. Vikram talked about how ancient Sanskrit poets like Kalidasa, Banabhatta and so forth mentioned the Traditional Indian New Year in their works. Faculty member Satyan Sharma talked about the history of the creation of Khalsa Panth and the literary works like translations of Upanishads, texts on ancient Indian philosophy and so forth, which were produced at the Anandpur Darbar under the direction of Guru Gobind Singh. This event was also attended by the Research Scholars of the department.