VIKRAMDITYA

We must have some way of keeping count of the years, mustn't we? Otherwise, when we think of an incident, how can we explain when it happened?

Swami Vivekananda was born in 1863, Sir C.V. Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930, and India achieved independence in 1947. In this way we indicate when some thing happened (in 1863, in 1930, in 1947 and so on). If we could not do this, how difficult it would have bean to talk about any thing?

Generally we follow the Christian era. 1947 means one thousand and nine hundred and forty seven years after the birth of Christ. (The Christian Era was followed only by the Christians of the West. It came to us with the dawn (British rule in India). This means Jesus Christ was the creator of an era.

The Government of India now follows the Shalivahana Shaka or Era. It started 78 years after the Christian Era. It takes its name from King Shalivahana. He was the creator of an era. If the people of a nation keep count of years from the year of the birth or the coronation of a great man, it is clear that, that man must have been really very great.

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