(JANERU) – Heralds the New Year!
Source:Dæhæna – Monthly e-Newsletter January 2021
January, named after the two-faced Roman god Janus- the God of Gateways and Beginnings, who sees both the coming and the going, replaced March as the first month of the Roman year in 153 BC under a decree of the second King of Rome Numa Pontilius, who added January to the existing Roman calendar of 10 months.
The New Year was moved from March to January because that was the beginning of the civil year, the month the two newly elected Roman consuls – the highest officials in the Roman republic – began their one-year tenure. It is significant that the change of an age-old tradition was prompted by the election of officials by civilians.
Although January 1st is considered the beginning of the New Year according to the widely used Gregorian calendar, not every country celebrates January 1st as the beginning of the year. The Traditional Sri Lankan New Year is celebrated on 14th April, while the Orthodox Christian New Year is celebrated from 7th- 14th January. Hindu Tamil New Year ‘Thai Pongal’ is celebrated on 14th January and the Chinese New Year is celebrated in February. Worldwide, January marks several significant days such as World Peace Day and Global Family Day (1st), World Brail Day (4th) and International Day of Education ( 24th).
In Australia 26th is celebrated as the National Day, marking the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson in New South Wales in 1788 and the raising of the flag of Great Britain at Sydney Cove by Governor Arthur Phillip. However, the first peoples of Australia consider this day as Invasion Day because it marks the beginning of colonization in Australia and the disempowerment of the Aboriginal people.
Today, Australians who value diversity and inclusion as tenets of a pluralistic nation, acknowledge Aboriginal people as the first peoples of Australia.
Sugee Kannangara
