UPSC Prelims 2014 · Question 24 of 100
UPSC Prelims 2014 question on Saka Era Calendar
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2014
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectArt and Culture
- TopicIndian Culture
- DifficultyHard
- TypeDirect
Chaitra 1 of the national calendar based on the Saka Era corresponds to which one of the following dates of the Gregorian calendar in a normal year of 365 days?
Show answer
Answer: A. 22nd March (or 21st March)
Verdict
The answer is 22 March, or 21 March in a leap year. Chaitra 1 of the Saka era national calendar corresponds to 22 March in an ordinary 365 day year.
Analysis
The national calendar based on the Saka era was adopted alongside the Gregorian calendar for official purposes, and its year begins on Chaitra 1. In a normal year that date falls on 22 March, and in a leap year it shifts one day earlier to 21 March, which is exactly how the first option is phrased. The third option is the deliberate trap: it also contains 21 March but pairs it with 30 March, a date with no basis. The May and April options are simply wrong and can be discarded on the equinox reasoning below.
Source
India Year Book.
How to crack it
Reason from the astronomy rather than memory. A solar calendar year that starts near the beginning of spring must begin close to the vernal equinox, which falls on 20 or 21 March, so the answer has to be within a day or two of that. That alone eliminates the May and April options. Then choose the pairing that shifts by exactly one day for a leap year, because that is how calendar corrections actually behave.