Time and methods of measuring it
Time and methods of measuring it
Q: We were discussing the practice: are the timings also important? The concept of a second, of a minute is implanted in the mind during some centuries. Before that how did they measure the intervals?
A: Well, in India there were so many different methods of measuring time. We have hours, we have minutes, we had ghati, nadi, matra, one second was — listen like that (made a “tick” sound with fingers) this is one second. A pal is like a second and a matra is less than a second. And 24 minutes make a ghati. In 24 hours there are eight yams, 48 mahuts — they used to calculate from that point. Also one minish, one closing your eyes, or blinking of the eyes is one minish. These were the units of time in the beginning.
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