This day is called as north door of the temple. in many religion northe or north door signifies spiritual mark or deepest consciousness of the year. according to Indian mythology it is called black pillar or pillar in strength of the temple which signifies dark knight . There are special sukatas attributed to the day called Rishi Dirghatamas. the holy saint of the day according to vedic astrology. t is on this day inner doors of this temple willbe opened so his journey begins into deepest conscience of himself. it is also called as gateway of birth.
In Hinduism, Devala was one of the great rishis or sages. He is acknowledged to be a great authority like Narada and Vyasa and is mentioned by Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita. Dīrghatamas (Devanagari:दीर्घत- मस) was an ancient sage well-known for his philosophical verses in the RgVeda. He was author of Suktas (hymns) 140 to 164 in the first Mandala (section) of the RgVeda.
Background
Dirghatamas was one of the Angirasa Rishis, the oldest of the Rishi families, and regarded as brother to the Rishi Bharadvaja, who is the seer of the sixth Mandala of the Rig Veda. Dirghatamas is also the chief predecessor of the Gotama family of Rishis that includes Kakshivan, Gotama, Nodhas and Vamadeva (seer of the fourth Mandala of the Rig Veda), who along with Dirghatamas account for almost 150 of the 1000 hymns of the Rig Veda. His own verses occur frequently in many Vedic texts, a few even in the Upanishads.
He was the reputed purohit or chief priest of King Bharata (Aitareya Brahmana VIII.
Astronomical significance
The December solstice is on either December 20, 21, 22 or 23.
The North Pole is tilted furthest from the Sun.
It is the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, where it is the darkest day of the year.
In the Southern Hemisphere, it is the summer solstice and the longest day of the year.
December Solstice in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India was on Thursday, 21 December 2017, 21:58 IST(Change city)
The Sun is directly overhead of the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere during the December Solstice.
The December Solstice occurs when the Sun reaches its most southerly declination of -23.4 degrees. In other words, when the North Pole is tilted furthest away from the Sun.
Being the longest day of the year, also means that people in the areas south of the Antarctic Circle towards the South Pole will see the Midnight Sun, i.e. have 24 hours of daylight, during this time of the year.
For people in the Northern Hemisphere, the December solstice marks the exact opposite, the day of the year with fewest hours of daylight. North of the Arctic Circle towards the North Pole there is no direct sunlight at all during this time of the year.
The December solstice has played an important role in cultures worldwide from ancient times until our day.In our ancient india it was considered as the darkenest knight o the year there many hymns of veda called Ratri suktas dedicated tot he dark night mother Goddess kalaratri. Even Christmas celebrations are closely linked to the observance of the December solstice.
This day is called as cardinal point of the year , along with March 21, June 22 Sept 21 which dived the year into 4 equal quadrants which signify the our yugas of great yuga that occur for every 43200000 years. these 4 cardinal points marks four point in the month as , new moon and eighth phrase of the dark moon Full moon, eight phrase of the Full moon respectively. They also signify four points in the day 00hrs night, 6 am, 12 pm and 6 pm respectively demark the consciousness of man to work through four phrases o his life namely domestic, professional social and personal life.
December solstice in the Calendar
December 21 or 22 solstices happen more often than December 20 and 23 solstices. The last December 23 solstice was in 1903 and will not happen again until 2303. A December 20 solstice has occurred very rarely, with the next one in the year 2080.(*)
Why Do the Dates Vary?
As with the June solstice, the December solstice’s varying dates are mainly due to the calendar system. The Gregorian calendar, which is used in most western countries, has 365 days in a common year and 366 days in a leap year.
However, the tropical year, which is the length of time the sun takes to return to the same position in the seasons cycle (as seen from Earth), is different to the calendar year. The tropical year is approximately 365.242199 days but varies from year to year because of the influence of other planets. The exact orbital and daily rotational motion of the Earth, such as the “wobble” in the Earth's axis (precession), also contributes to the changing solstice dates.
The solstices can also be observed by noting the point of time when the sun rises or sets as far south as it does during the course of the year (winter in the Northern Hemisphere) or maximally north (summer in the Northern Hemisphere).
It is important to note that Earth does not move at a constant speed in its elliptical orbit. Therefore the seasons are not of equal length: the times taken for the sun to move from the vernal equinox to the summer solstice, to the autumnal equinox, to the winter solstice, and back to the vernal equinox are roughly 92.8, 93.6, 89.8 and 89.0 days respectively. The consolation in the Northern Hemisphere is that spring and summer last longer than autumn and winter (when the December solstice occurs).
The relative position of the Earth's axis to the sun changes during the cycle of seasons. This phenomenon is the reason why the sun’s height above the horizon changes throughout the year. It is also responsible for the seasons through controlling the intensity and duration of sunlight received at various locations around the planet.
End of the world in Mayan calendar
In 2012, the December Solstice coincided with the end of the “Great Cycle” of the Long Count in the Mayan calendar. Many saw this as a prophecy of the end of the world.
