Calendar expert TM Raghunath challenges Gregorian calendar; presents a new ‘perfect’ alternative

T.M. Raghunath’s Bold Claim: The Calendar We Use Is Wrong

In an astonishing revelation, a calender expert from Shivamogga, Karnataka, has publicly declared that the globally accepted Gregorian calendar is based on flawed calculations. T.M. Raghunath, a self-taught calendar expert, asserts that the calendar followed by billions across the world for over four centuries is inaccurate—and he has the data to prove it.

According to Raghunath, the current Gregorian calendar, introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, calculates the duration of one year as 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 12 seconds. However, Raghunath claims the precise astronomical year is actually 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds. This 26-second discrepancy, he argues, leads to cumulative errors over centuries.

Abstract:

The Gregorian calendar, while a notable improvement over the Julian system, still suffers from cumulative inaccuracies due to its leap year over corrections. This paper introduces the T.M. Raghunath Calendar System—an innovative model that preserves the structure of the Gregorian calendar while implementing precise fractional corrections to align more accurately with the solar year. It proposes treating the skipped leap day (February 29) not as a full day, but as 0.9688 days, followed by a one-day correction every 128 years. A 33-year cycle manages short- term surplus (0.2422days), and extended correctioncycles(640,5,000,and80,000 years) address residual errors. This scalable framework ensures unparalleled accuracy, adaptability to planetary changes, and compatibility with existing systems, making it the most scientifically rigorous calendar proposed to date.

1.  Introduction

Accurate calendar systems are fundamental to agriculture, science, social organization, and global coordination. Historical advancements like the Julian and Gregorian calendars sought to align civil timekeeping with Earth’s orbit.However, both introduced approximations. The Julian calendar assumed a year of 365.25 days, leading to long-term drift. The Gregorian reform improved this by skipping three leap years every 400 years, reducing error—but not eliminating it.

The T.M. Raghunath Calendar addresses the remaining discrepancy by introducing a leap year correction method based on the actual fractional surplus of solar time. It refines leap day adjustments by recognizing that the surplus is only 0.9688 days every four years—not a full day—thus offering precise alignment with the tropical year (~365.2422 days).

The T.M. Raghunath Calendar includes February 29 as a full leap day by adding the necessary 0.0312 days to the accumulated 0.9688 days over four years. However, when a leap day is skipped, no extra time is added—the 0.0312-day surplus is simply omitted, meaning the skipped day accounts for only 0.9688 of a day.

2.  METHODOLOGY: The Raghunath Leap Year Correction

a. Core Principles:

• Added Leap Day (Feb 29): Counts as 1 full day (0.9688 surplus + 0.0312 compensation).
• Skipped Leap Day: Corrects 0.9688 days (excludes 0.0312 compensation).
• Preserves Gregorian structure: Months, weeks, and common/leap years

The calendar retains the Gregorian structure: 365 days in a common year and 366 in a leap year, with no changes to months or weekdays. However, the Raghunath model introduces a critical refinement: February 29 in skipped leap years is treated as only 0.9688 days, based on the actual surplus accumulated over four years (0.2422 × 4).

Over 124 years, the surplus totals approximately 0.9672 days. To correct this, the calendar uses a 128-year cycle. Within this period, one dayis removed byomitting a leap day in four key years: the 33rd, 66th, 99th, and 128th. These skipped leap years create five-year gaps between certain leap years (e.g., from year 33 to 37), breaking the usual 4-year cycle.

Each correction removes 0.2422 days, and together they sum to 0.9688 days, almost perfectly offsetting the accumulated surplus. Practically, this means:

• 32 leap years are designated in each 128-year cycle,
• 1 leap year is effectively nullified to remove the surplus,
• Only 31 leap years functionally occur in each cycle,
• The structure follows 3 segments of 33 years (8 leap years each) and one 29-year segment (7 leap years).

Compared to the Gregorian calendar—which skips three leap days every 400 years the Raghunath Calendar is faster and more precise. It addresses the surplus in just 33 years, not centuries, and applies corrections based on actual time, not full calendar days.

In any calendar system, adding February 29 every four years helps compensate for the annual surplus of approximately 0.2422 days, totaling about 0.9688 days over four years. To make this a complete day, an additional 0.0312 days is included, allowing February 29 to be counted as a full leap day. However, in cases where leap days are skipped such as once every 128 years in the T.M. Raghunathcalendar or three times every 400 years in the Gregorian calendar—those days are never added to the calendar. As a result, the extra 0.0312 days is not applied, and each skipped day accounts for only 0.9688 of a day. This precise handling of skipped days is a key strength of the T.M. Raghunath calendar, which ensures they are not mistakenly treated as full days.

In the T.M. Raghunath Calendar, February29 is recognized as a full daybecause it includes an additional surplus of 0.0312 days, making the leap day scientifically complete. However, when a leap day is skippedsuch as in the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 in the Gregorian calendar, or once every 128 years in the Raghunath system—that day is not added to the calendar at all. Consequently, no surplus time is included during these skipped years. Each omitted leap day, therefore, only accounts for 0.9688 of a full day, not a full 24 hours.

This distinction is critical. The Gregorian calendar overlooks this fractional time difference by treating skipped days as if they remove an entire day, when in fact they fall short by 0.0312 days. Over long periods, this leads to cumulative inaccuracies. The Raghunath Calendar corrects this flaw by ensuring that both added and skipped days are measured precisely in time not merely in calendar termsthereby preserving long-term alignment with the true solar year.

In the Gregorian calendar, three leap years are skipped every 400 yearsspecifically in the 100th, 200th, and 300th yearswhich leads to an extended intervalofeight yearsbetween certainleapyears.Similarly,intheT.M.Raghunath Calendar, the 128-year correction cycle is divided into four parts, with adjustments made in the 33rd, 66th, 99th, and 128th years. Within each segment, the gap between some leap years becomes five years instead of the usual four. In the Gregorian system, each skipped leap year corrects approximately 0.9688 days of accumulated surplus. In contrast, the Raghunath Calendar applies a more precise correction of about 0.2422 days in each 33-year segment, leading to faster and more accurate alignment with the solar year.

3.  SCIENTIFIC AND MATHEMATICAL JUSTIFICATION:

(a) 128 - Year Cycle Correction

Each skipped leap year corrects the surplus accumulated over 32 years:

• 33rd year: 0.0078×32=0.2496 days→ Subtract 0.2422 days
• 66th year: 0.0078×32=0.2496 days→ Subtract 0.2422 days
• 99th year: 0.0078×32=0.2496 days→ Subtract 0.2422 days
• 128th year: 0.0078 ×28 =0.2184 days→ Subtract 0.2422 days

Total corrected: 4×0.2422=0.9688 days

Total surplus: 0.9672 days

Net error: 0.0016 days

The 128-year correction cycle’s core principles are:

• Surplus:0.2422 days/year→0.9688 days/4
• Correction: Omit leap days in years 33,66,99, and
• Effect: Removes 4×0.2422=0.9688 days (vs.0.9672-day surplus).

Cycle Structure:

• Years 1-32: 8 leap years (4-year intervals).
• Years 33-65: 8 leap years (5-year gap after year 33).
• Years 66-98: 8 leap years (5-year gap after year 66).
• Years 99-128: 7 leap years (5-year gap after year 99; 29-year segment).

(b)  5,000-Year Correction Cycle

Over 4,992 years (39 × 128-year cycles), the tiny residual (0.0016 days per cycle) accumulates to:

• 0016 ×39=0.0624 days

This is corrected by 8 unadjusted years at the end of the 5,000-year cycle:

• 8×0.0078 =0.0624 days

The final 8 years (4,993–5,000) are excluded from any correction cycle, ensuringperfect balance over 5,000 years.

(c) 80,000-Year Correction Cycle Extending further:

• • 80,000 years=96×640 +32 ×576 =79,872 years
  • 0016 ×624 =0.9984 days
  • 128 uncorrected years (from 79,873–80,000): 128×0.0078= 0.9984 days

Again, the surplus is completely canceled, providing unmatched long-term stability.

Key Advantages:

• Precision: Matches solar year within 0.000005 days/year.
• Efficiency: Corrections applied 12x faster than Gregorian 400-year cycle.
• Adaptability: Modular cycles accommodate future orbital changes.

Compared to Julian and Gregorian systems, and even modern proposals like the Symmetry 454, the T M Raghunath Calendar offers unmatched precision and structural continuity while correcting leap year surplus more effectively.

5.  Future Adaptability:

The system is designed to adapt to future astronomical changes. If Earth’s orbital period changes (e.g., due to tidal effects or planetary interactions), the correction cycles can be recalibrated. Additionally, the system can accommodate changes to week or month structures, if global consensus demands structural reform. Its modular correction design ensures long-term relevance.

6.  Philosophical Basis: Time Must Be Measured as It Flows:

The Raghunath Calendar is grounded in the philosophy that time should be measured naturally, not artificially rounded. Traditional systems remove entiredays to account for fractional surpluses. The Raghunath model corrects time as it actually accumulates—in fractions—honoring the flow of solar time. This aligns with the scientific principles of celestial mechanics and the continuous nature of time.

Time measurement must reflect astronomical reality, not integer approximations. By treating skipped leap days as fractional time (0.9688 days), the system honors the continuous flow of solar time, aligning civil timekeeping with celestial mechanics.

7.  Conclusion:

The T.M. Raghunath Calendar System offers a revolutionary advancement in timekeeping. It retains the familiarity of the Gregorian structure while applying scientific corrections based on actual astronomical time. By treating the omitted leap day as 0.9688 days and correcting this surplus precisely every 128 years— augmented by 5,000- and 80,000-year cycles—the calendar eliminates long-term drift.

• Unprecedented accuracy (zero drift over 5,000 years).
• Seamless compatibility with existing infrastructure.
• Future-proof scalability via adaptable cycles.

This precision, combined with structural compatibility and adaptability, positions the Raghunath Calendar as the most scientifically accurate and future-proof calendar system ever proposed.

8.  References:

1. The Gregorian Calendar Reform (1582), Vatican Archives
2. Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac, U.S. Naval Observatory (1961)
3. Bromberg, I. (University of Toronto). “Symmetry 454 Calendar Proposal” (2004)
4. NASA Fact Sheet: Orbital Mechanics and Year Length (15 Nov 2024)
5. Raghunath,T.M.(2025). Personal Hypothesis and Communication

A Revolutionary Appeal to the World

Raghunath is not content with merely correcting history. He has made a passionate appeal to the global community to adopt his revised calendar, claiming it is the only system that matches Earth’s actual solar revolution. He insists this shift would bring long-term precision to civil timekeeping, agriculture, and scientific research.

Though his claims are bold and his background unconventional, Raghunath has sparked a conversation that challenges centuries-old norms. Whether the world will adopt his system remains to be seen—but there is no denying that a man from Shivamogga has dared to challenge the calendar used by over 800 crore people. And he is backing it up with data, documents, and ₹10 crore in confidence.