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Every year, New Year is celebrated all over the world on January 1, but very few people know that there is a long and interesting history behind celebrating this date as English New Year. From the Roman civilization to the modern Gregorian calendar, many historical decisions, policies of rulers and administrative needs have given January 1 the status of the beginning of the year. Today, this day may have become a symbol of celebration, resolution and new beginnings, but its roots are deeply linked to politics, religion and calendar reforms of ancient times. This is why the tradition of celebrating the New Year on January 1 is not just a date, but the result of centuries of history.

Beginning with the ancient Roman calendar

• In the beginning the calendar of ancient Rome was completely different.
• Rome’s first calendar was created by Romulus, which had only 10 months.
• This year started from March, because it was considered the season of war and farming.
• According to belief, January and February were not included in the calendar at that time.

joining of january month

• Around 713 BC, the Roman king Numa Pompilius added two new months to the calendar—
• January
• February
• January is named after the Roman god Janus.

Who was Janus?

• Janus was considered a two-faced god.
• According to belief, one of his faces looked towards the past and the other towards the future.
• Therefore, January was considered a symbol of new beginning and end of the old year.

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When did January 1st become New Year?

Initially the new year still began in March, but in 153 BC, the Roman Senate decided that the official term and administrative year would begin on January 1. The reasons for this were war planning, assumption of office of new consuls (ruling officers) and convenience in governance. With this, gradually January 1 itself was accepted as the new year.

Julian calendar and Julius Caesar

In 46 BC, Roman emperor Julius Caesar made a major calendar reform. He implemented the Julian Calendar, which fixed the length of the year, instituted leap years, and declared January 1 the official New Year. It is from here that the tradition of celebrating New Year on 1 January became stronger.

Christianity and protest

When Christianity spread in Europe, the Church did not like this tradition because January 1 was associated with the Roman gods. This was considered a pagan tradition. Therefore, in the medieval period, many countries started celebrating the New Year around March 25, Easter or Christmas.

Gregorian calendar and the final seal

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII implemented the Gregorian calendar, which is used throughout the world today.

In this calendar, the new year was officially decided on 1 January. Gradually Europe, then the whole world adopted it.

Why is New Year celebrated on 1 January in India?

India traditionally has different new years like Vikram Samvat, Shak Samvat, Chaitra Pratipada and Baisakhi.

But the Gregorian calendar was adopted during British rule. Government, legal and international work started being done from this calendar, hence January 1 started being celebrated as English New Year.