Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Nanakshahi calendar

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The Nanakshahi (Punjabi: ਨਾਨਕਸ਼ਾਹੀ, nānakashāhī) calendar is a tropical solar calendar that was adopted by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee to determine the dates for important Sikh events. The calendar was implemented during the SGPC presidency of eminent Sikh scholar Prof. Kirpal Singh Badungar at Takhat Sri Damdama Sahib in the presence of Sikh leadership. It was designed by Pal Singh Purewal to replace the Saka calendar and has been in use since 1998. The epoch of this calendar is the birth of the first Sikh Guru, Nanak Dev in 1469. New Year's Day falls annually on what is March 14 in the Gregorian Western calendar.

The calendar is accepted in about 90% of the gurdwaras throughout the world. There is some controversy about the acceptance of the calendar among certain orthodox sectors of the Sikh world. Some orthodox organizations and factions have not accepted it including many orders dating from the time of the Gurus such as Damdami Taksal, Buddha Dal Nihangs, Takhats etc.

Features of the new calendar:

  • a tropical solar calendar
  • called Nanakshahi after Guru Nanak (founder of Sikhism)
  • year one is the year of Guru Nanak's birth (1469 CE). As an example, March 2017 CE is Nanakshahi 549.
  • uses most of the mechanics of the Western calendar
  • year length is same as Western calendar (365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 45 seconds)
  • 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 but later amended

    • Months

    The months in the Nanakshahi calendar are:

    References

    Nanakshahi calendar Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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