Nanakshahi calendar

The Nanakshahi Calendar is named after the founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak Dev Ji.[3]

Sikhs have traditionally recognised two eras and luni-solar calendars: the Nanakshahi and Khalsa. Traditionally, both these calendars closely followed the Bikrami calendar with the Nanakshahi year beginning on Katak Pooranmashi (full moon) and the Khalsa year commencing with Vaisakhi.[4] The methods for calculating the beginning of the Khalsa era were based on the Bikrami calendar. The year length was also the same as the Bikrami solar year.[5] According to Steel (2000), (since the calendar was based on the Bikrami), the calendar has twelve lunar months that are determined by the lunar phase, but thirteen months in leap years which occur every 2–3 years in the Bikrami calendar to sync the lunar calendar with its solar counterpart.[6] Kay (2011) abbreviates the Khalsa Era as KE.[7]

References to the Nanakshahi Era have been made in historic documents.[8] Banda Singh Bahadur adopted the Nanakshahi calendar in 1710 C.E. after his victory in Sirhind (12 May 1710 C.E.)[9] according to which the year 1710 C.E. became Nanakshahi 241. However, Singh (2008) states the date of the victory as 14 May 1710 CE.[10] According to Dilgeer (1997), Banda "continued adopting the months and the days of the months according to the Bikrami calendar".[11] Banda Singh Bahadur also minted new coins also called Nanakshahi.[12] Herrli (1993) states that "Banda is supposed to have dated his coins according to his new calendar. Although Banda may have proclaimed this era, it cannot be traced in contemporary documents and does not seem to have been actually used for dating".[13]According to The Panjab Past and Present (1993), it is Gian Singh who "is the first to use Nanak Shahi Samvats along with those of Bikrami Samvats" in the Twarikh Guru Khalsa.[14] According to Singha (1996), Gian Singh was a Punjabi author born in 1822.[15] Gian Singh wrote the Twarikh Guru Khalsa in 1891.[16]

The revised Nanakshahi calendar was designed by Pal Singh Purewal to replace the Bikrami calendar.[17] The epoch of this calendar is the birth of the first Sikh Guru, Nanak Dev in 1469 and the Nanakshahi year commences on 1 Chet. New Year's Day falls annually on what is 14 March in the Gregorian Western calendar.[18] The start of each month is fixed.[19] According to Kapel (2006), the solar accuracy of the Nanakshahi calendar is linked to the Gregorian civil calendar.[20] This is because the Nanaskhahi calendar uses the tropical year[21] instead of using the sidereal year which is used in the Bikrami calendar or the old Nanakshahi and Khalsa calendars.

The amended Nanakshahi calendar was adopted in 1998[22] but implemented in 2003[23][24] by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee to determine the dates for important Sikh events. The calendar was implemented during the SGPC presidency of Sikh scholar Prof. Kirpal Singh Badungar at Takhat Sri Damdama Sahib in the presence of Sikh leadership.[18] Nanakshahi Calendar recognizes the adoption event, of 1999 CE, in the Sikh history when SGPC released the first calendar with permanently fixed dates in the Tropical Calendar. Therefore, the calculations of this calendar do not regress back from 1999 CE into the Bikrami era, and accurately fixes for all time in the future.[25]

Features of the Original Nanakshahi calendar (2003 Version):[26][27]

• Uses the accurate Tropical year (365 Days, 5 Hours, 48 Minutes, 45 Seconds) rather than the Sidereal year
• Called Nanakshahi after Guru Nanak (Founder of Sikhism)
• Year 1 is the Year of Guru Nanak's Birth (1469 CE). As an example, January 27, 2021 CE is Nanakshahi 552.
• Is Based on Gurbani[28] – Month Names are taken from Guru Granth Sahib
• Contains 5 Months of 31 days followed by 7 Months of 30 days
• Leap year every 4 Years in which the last month (Phagun) has an extra day
• Approved by Akal Takht in 2003[29]

In 2010, the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee ("SGPC") modified the calendar so that the dates for the start of the months are movable so that they coincide with the Bikrami calendar and changed the dates for various Sikh festivals so they are based upon the lunar phase. This has created controversy with some bodies adopting the original 2003 version, also called the "Mool Nanakshahi Calendar"[31] and others, the 2010 version.[32] By 2014, the SGPC had scrapped the original Nanakshahi calendar from 2003 and reverted to the Bikrami calendar entirely, however it was still published under the name of Nanakshahi.[33] The Sikh bodies termed it a step taken under pressure from the RSS and Shiromani Akali Dal.[34] There is also some controversy about the acceptance of the calendar altogether among certain sectors of the Sikh world.[27]

SGPC president, Gobind Singh Longowal, on 13 March 2018 urged all Sikhs to follow the current (2010) Nanakshahi calendar.[35] The previous SGPC President before Longowal, Prof. Kirpal Singh Badungar, tried to appeal the Akal Takht to celebrate the birthday of Guru Gobind Singh on 23 Poh (5 January) as per the original Nanakshahi calendar, but the appeal was denied.[36] The PSGPC and a majority of the other gurdwara managements across the world are opposing the modified version of the calendar citing that the SGPC reverted to the Bikrami calendar. They argue that in the Bikrami calendar, dates of many gurpurbs coincide, thereby creating confusion among the Sikh Panth.[34]

According to Ahaluwalia (2003), the Nanakshahi calendar goes against the use of lunar Bikrami dates by the Gurus themselves and is contradictory. It begins with the year of birth of Guru Nanak Dev, but the first date, 1 Chet, is when Guru Har Rai was installed the seventh Guru.[37] However, the first date of the Nanakshahi calendar (1 Chet) is based upon the Barah Maha of the Guru Granth Sahib, which has Chet as the first month.[38] Pal Singh Purewal, as reported in the Edmonton Journal (March 2018) has stated that his aims in formulating the Nanakshahi calendar were, "first and foremost, it should respect sacred holy scriptures. Second, it should discard the lunar calendar and use only a solar one. Third, all the dates should be fixed and not vary from year to year."[33] In reality however, state Haar and Kalsi (2009), the introduction of the Nanakshahi calendar has resulted in many festivals being "celebrated on two dates depending on the choice of the management of the local gurdwaras."[39]

Dates of observance of festivals as determined by reference to the 2003 version.

Movable dates for Sikh Festivals in the 2003 and 2010 versions. (These change every year in line with the Lunar Phase)[42]

• Punjabi calendar
• Indian national calendar
• Hindu calendar
• Bengali calendar

• Purewal.biz, the website of Mr. Pal Singh Purewal, the creator of the Nanakshahi Calendar, this site contains detailed articles about this calendar.
• Nanakshahi Calendar at BBC
• Nanakshahi.net A website to get the Nanakshahi Calendar info and get Sikh Holiday dates, based on an Open Source JavaScript Library.