The Ethiopian calendar is based on the Coptic calendar, although it differs with regard to the saint's days and the time of observing them.

The Coptic, or Egyptian, calendar is 7/8 years behind the Gregorian calendar. This discrepancy results from differences between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church as to the date of the creation of the world.

The Ethiopian calendar is based on the Egyptian. An Egyptian year has 13 months. The first 12 months have 30 days. The last month, Paguemain, is an intercalary month, which has 6 days on leap year and 5 on others.

The year starts on 11 September in the Gregorian Calendar or on the 12th in (Gregorian) Leap Years. The Coptic Leap Year follows the same rules as the Gregorian so that the extra month always has 6 days in a Gregorian Leap Year. The names of the months and their starting dates are as follows:

Egyptian Ethiopian Start Date

(regular) Start Date

(leap year) Thuout Meskerem 11 Sept 12 Sept

Paopi Tikemet 11 Oct 12 Oct

Athor Hidar 10 Nov 11 Nov

Khoiak Tahesas 10 Dec 11 Dec

Tobi Tir 9 Jan 10 Jan

Mekhir Yekatit 8 Feb 9 Feb

Fameno or Baramhat Megabit 10 Mar -

Farmou or Baramouda Miyaza 9 Apr -

Pakhon Ginbot 9 May -

Paony Sene 8 Jun -

Epep Hamle 8 Jul -

Mesori Nehase 7 Aug -

Nasie Pagume 6 Sep -

The Coptic New Year is a holiday in Ethiopia. Christmas falls on the 7th of January as in the Orthodox "old" calendar. Likewise, Epiphany is on the 19th of January. Easter would appear to be calculated according to the Orthodox calendar also. Christmas and Epiphany also do not appear to move by one day during Leap Years as they would if they were being set by the above calendar. Thus, it would seem that Christian feasts are set according to the Orthodox calendar rather than according to the Coptic. An Egyptian Coptic source simply describes the date of Easter as being "the second Sunday after the first full moon in Spring."

These are the major public holidays:

Date

(in Western Calendar) Ethiopian public holiday

January 7 Ethiopian Christmas (Genna)

January 19 Ethiopian Epiphany (Timkat)

March 2 Victory of Adwa Day

March 13 Id Al Fitir (End of Ramadan)

April 6 Patriots Victory Day

April 17 Id Al Adha (Arafa)

April 25 Ethiopian Good Friday

April 27 Ethiopian Easter (Fasika)

May 28 Downfall of the Dergue (Since 1991)

July 17 Birth of Prophet Mohammed (Moulid)

Sepember 11 Ethiopian New Year (Enqutatash)

September 27 Feast of the True Cross (Meskal)

Balinese

The Balinese use two calendar systems, the Hindu Çaka and their own Pawukon. The Pawukon is intricate. It is based on ten concurrent weeks, which have one to ten days (although the one-day week is really a copy of the two-day week with only one day named). To complicate matters, only the three-day, five-day and seven-day weeks run regularly: the others are derived in various ways. The whole system repeats every 210 days: these 210 days are divided into thirty named cycles of the seven-day week. There are various other cycles and holy days defined on these principles. Baha'i

The Baha'i religion was founded in Iran in the mid-19th century by Mirza Hoseyn 'Ali Nuri, who is known as Baha' Ullah (Arabic: "Glory of God"). The cornerstone of Baha'i belief is the conviction that Baha' Ullah and his forerunner, who was known as the Bab, were manifestations of God, who in his essence is unknowable. The principal Baha'i tenets are the essential unity of all religions and the unity of humanity. Baha'is believe that all the founders of the world's great religions have been manifestations of God and agents of a progressive divine plan for the education of the human race. Despite their apparent differences, the world's great religions, according to the Baha'is, teach an identical truth. Baha' Ullah's peculiar function was to overcome the disunity of religions and establish a universal faith. Baha'is believe in the oneness of humanity and devote themselves to the abolition of racial, class, and religious prejudices. The great bulk of Baha'i teachings is concerned with social ethics; the faith has no priesthood and does not observe ritual forms in its worship.

The Year

The year is based on the solar year of 365 days, five hours and some fifty minutes. Each year is divided into nineteen months of nineteen days each with four Intercalary Days (five in a leap year), called Ayyám-i-Há which Bahá'u'lláh specified should precede the nineteenth month. The Bahá'í New Year's Day (Naw Rúz) falls on the Spring Equinox. This usually occurs on 21 March but if the Equinox falls after sunset on 21 March, Naw Rúz is to be celebrated on 22 March because the Bahá'í day begins at sunset.

The Months

The names of the months in the Bahá'í (Badí) calendar were given by the Báb, who drew them from the nineteen names of God invoked in a prayer said during the month of fasting in Islam. At the beginning of each month, the Bahá'ís hold their local community's regular worship gathering. Called a "Feast", it is more a spiritual dinner than a physical one. The months are:

Order Name Meaning Gregorian Dates

1 Bahá Splendor 21 March - 8 April

2 Jalál Glory 9 April - 27 April

3 Jamál Beauty 28 April - 16 May

4 'Azamat Grandeur 17 May - 4 June

5 Núr Light 5 June - 23 June

6 Rahmat Mercy 24 June - 12 July

7 Kalimát Words 13 July - 31 July

8 Kamál Perfection 1 August - 19 August

9 Asmá' Names 20 August - 7 September

10 'Izzat Might 8 September - 26 September

11 Mashíyyat Will 27 September - 15 October

12 'Ilm Knowledge 16 October - 3 November

13 Qudrat Power 4 November - 22 November

14 Qawl Speech 23 November - 11 December

15 Masá'il Questions 12 December - 30 December

16 Sharaf Honor 31 December - 18 February

17 Sultán Sovereignty 19 Janurary - 6 February

18 Mulk Dominion 7 February - 25 February

19 'Alá Loftiness 2 March - 20 March

The days of the week:

Order Name Meaning Gregorian Equivalent

1 Jalál Glory Saturday

2 Jamál Beauty Sunday

3 Kamál Perfection Monday

4 Fidál Grace Tuesday

5 'Idál Justice Wednesday

6 Istijlál Majesty Thursday

7 Istiqlál Independence Friday

The Bahá'í day of rest is Isiqlál (Friday) and the Bahá'í day begins and ends at sunset.

Each of the days of the month is also given the name of one of the attributes of God. the names are the same as those of the nineteen months; thus Naw-Rúz, the first day of the first month, would be considered the 'day of Bahá of the month Bahá'. If it fell on a Saturday, the first day of the Bahá'í week, it would also be the 'day of Jalál'

The Cycles (Váhid)

In His Writings, revealed in Arabic, the Báb divided the years following the date of His Revelation into cycles of nineteen years each. Each cycle of nineteen years is called a Váhid; nineteen cycles constitute a period called Kull-i-Shay. The names of the years in each cycle are: Order Name Meaning Order Name Meaning

1 Alif The Letter "A" 11 Bahháj Delightful

2 Bá The letter "B" 12 Javáb Answer

3 Ab Father 13 Ahad Single

4 Dál The letter "D" 14 Vahháb Bountiful

5 Báb Gate 15 Vidád Affection

6 Váv The letter "V" 16 Badí Beginning

7 Abad Eternity 17 Bahí Luminous

8 Jád Generosity 18 Abhá Most Luminous

9 Bahá Splendour 19 Váhid Unity

10 Hubb Love

Ayyám-i-Há

Literally, Days of Há (i.e. the letter Há, which in the abjad system has the numerical value of 5). Intercalary Days. The four days (five in a leap year) before the last month of the Bahá'í year, 'Alá', which is the month of fasting. Bahá'u'lláh designated the Intercalary days as Ayyám-i-Há in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and specified when they should be observed; the Báb left this undefined. The Ayyám-i-Há are devoted to spiritual preparation for the fast, hospitality, feasting, charity and gift giving.