Sunday, August 29, 2010

Calendar

Does anyone know how calendars are made? I don't mean the basic, workaday one where you know what day is a Saturday or a Sunday and where the important holidays are. I mean the Kalnirnays and the Panchangams and the Murugan calendar that lots of South Indian homes have, where you tear off one page a day and can't go back to last week to check something, because the paper's thin and has been crushed and discarded the moment the new day's revealed.

Today's calendar page on one of those Murugans says There Will Be Rain*.

I want to know how they knew. Presumably they made this calendar last year some time in November or thereabouts. Sure, they can figure out the status of the moon, eclipses and Rahu Kalams. But how do they know it will rain one these particular days several months in advance?

*There is.

5 comments:

km said...

Just checked an online panchangam.

It says "today is a good day for destruction of one's enemies" and "acts of combat".

I think I am done with lame-ass Western calendars that only tell me today is Sunday.

Space Bar said...

km: And you didn't put link? how cruel!

km said...

Acts of Combat

wv: "firedno"

IdlyMafia said...

Well you noticed it just because the prediction was right, right? Check it over a month's time and work out the percentage accuracy. I'm guessing <= 50%

Varali said...

Actually, I did this in 2003 - the accuracy rate for predictions of rain in the Murugan (actually Rani Muthu) calendar was 81%. A tad too high to let one remain comfortably skeptical.