INTERACTIVE: A once-in-33-year Raya phenomenon

By SHYAFIQ DZULKIFLI 

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia will experience a rare convergence of three major festivals eight years from now.

In 2033, Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Chinese New Year and Christmas will fall close to each other, creating a joyful overlap of celebrations.

This phenomenon occurs because Hari Raya Aidilfitri will be celebrated twice in 2033 – first in early January and again in December.

The first Aidilfitri of 2033 will coincidentally fall in the same month as Chinese New Year (Jan 31).

The second Aidilfitri of that year will occur close to Christmas (Dec 25).

Aidilfitri will happen twice in 2033 due to the Islamic lunar-based calendar being approximately 11 to 12 days shorter than the solar-based Gregorian calendar.

Over time, this difference results in Islamic celebrations shifting earlier each year.

Once every 33 years, this shift aligns in such a way that Muslims observe two Aidilfitri celebrations within the same Gregorian year.

The future overlaps are among the interesting observations gleaned by compiling the dates of festivals from various sources including the timeanddate.com website.

To note, the exact dates for Aidilfitri in Malaysia are announced by the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal.


 

Previous joint celebrations 

The once-in-33-year cycle last took place in the year 2000.

That year saw two Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations - on January 8 and December 27 - with the latter just two days after Christmas.

Previous “Kongsi Raya” occasions - where Aidilfitri celebrations overlapped with Chinese New Year - occurred in 1996, 1997, and 1998.

The last “Deepa Raya” years where Aidilfitri and Deepavali took place near other was in 2004, 2005, and 2006.


 

Future Kongsi and Deepa Raya

Looking ahead, the next time Aidilfitri and Chinese New Year celebrations will overlap will be in 2029, 2030 and 2031.

Aidilfitri and Deepavali will meanwhile fall near each other in 2037, 2038, and 2039.

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