Mool Nanakshahi Calendar

Mool Nanakshahi Calendar is the Sikh Calendar. At first glance, one may not know the difference between the current Nanakshahi Calendar (1999 adopted by SGPC and then 3 dates reverted back to Bikrami in 2003 but still referred to as “Nanakshahi") and the Mool Nanakshahi Calendar. A deeper understanding of the history and efforts made by Sikh scholars, to create a distinct Sikh calendar is vital. In 2003, Pal Singh Purewal, who had been working towards the Sikh calendar since the 1960s, introduced the Nanakshahi Calendar.

A Calendar Reform Committee composed of many scholars and representatives of various academic institutions met at the Institute of Sikh Studies in Chandigarh in 1995. In 1996, a formal proposal was submitted to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC).[1] The SGPC issued a General House Resolution asking the Sikhs across the world to adopt the Sikh Calendar.[2] In 2003, although some of the dates were largely adopted as fixed dates, some due to cultural and political concerns were dismissed and reverted back to Bikrami dates, which were later synchronized in 2017 when the Mool Nanakshahi Calendar was introduced to fix all dates.[3]

Pal Singh Purewal, introduced the term Mool (original) Nanakshahi Calendar in 2017.[4] The new term meant to distinguish from the current Nanakshahi Calendar which was altered in 2003 to include movable Bikrami dates in addition to the new adopted dates by the SGPC in 1999. This pre-altered versional of the calendar is was the one proposed by the Calendar Reform Committee in 1995 and accepted by the SGPC in 1999.[5] The original calendar synchronized Mool Nanakshahi (religious) Calendar with Common Era (CE) Calendar, permanently and hence termed Mool Nanakshahi Calendar.

There are notable differences between the Nanakshahi Calendar and the Mool Nanakshahi Calendar. Understanding the motivation and decades of research to reflect the accuracy of historical events is essential.[6] The Mool Nanakshahi Calendar continues to gather support[7] across the world as Sikhs yearn to follow fixed dates which are an accurate historical representation of the Sikh History and an attempt at adding integrity to the Sikh identity.[8][9][10] This provides the platform for Sikhs to agree on a common calendar.[11][12] Sardar Pal Singh Purewal, the main architect of the calendar, has written scholarly articles on this issue[13] and explains the difference between the Mool Nanakshahi Calendar and Bikrami Calendars.[14][15] There is a difference between the Nanakshai Calendar and the Mool Nanakshahi Calendar as such as the Mool Nanakshahi Calendar fixes dates which were movable in the Nanakshahi Calendar.

In 2018, The Akal Takhat Jathedar, Giani Gurbachan Singh asked that the Sikhs should unite and adopt the new Nanakshahi Calendar and that the "majority of Sikh sects, including Nihangs, Nirmalays, Udhasis and Damdami Taksal, observe and want to observe Sikh religious days according to the (amended) Nanakshahi calendar.".[16] The Sikh communities around the world are embracing the calendar.