In present times, Sikh community use
Nanakshahi Calendar
and have left the use of Bikrami calendar which is said have lot of
flaws. Starting from in 1999, all religious holidays for Sikh is
observed according to the newly modified Nanakshahi Calendar. The years
of the Nanakshahi calendar start with the birth of Guru Nanak Dev in
1469. Year 1998, is therefore, considered Nanakshahi 530. The modified
calendar is based on the length of the tropical solar year instead of
the lunar cycle. This ensures that the dates will not fluctuate from
year to year, as was the case with the previously used Bikrami Calendar.
Hence, the calendar helps Sikhs to correctly represent their historic
events and move forward with a calendar of their own.
According to the Nanakshahi Calendar, Sikh New Year begins with Chet 1.
This corresponds to March 14 in Gregorian or Common Era calendar.
Nanakshahi calendar is gaining popularity in the Sikh diaspora and is
likely to become the de facto standard of the Sikhs worldwide just as
Christians have Gregorian calendar, Muslims have Hijri calendar, Hindus
have Bikrami and Saka calendars and Bahais have their own distinct
calendar.
In a Nanakshahi calendar or Sikh Calendar, the first day of each month
is known as
Sangrand, and correlates to dates on Common Era
calendar as shown below.
The month of Phagun has 30 days in ordinary year, and
31 days in a year in which the month of February has 29 days. As a
result, during a leap year, the corresponding dates of Phagun from March
1 to March 13 will differ by 1 day from those of the same month in
non-leap years.
Seasons in a Sikh Calendar
Sikhs divide their year into following six seasons:
In Sikhism, the full-moon day is given importance as
it was on the full-moon day of Kartik that Guru Nanak was born. Besides,
as most Sikhs in Punjab have some association with agriculture, the
harvest season has been accorded great importance. Two of the most
important Sikh festivals, Baisakhi and Lohri, are linked to agriculture.
Both these festivals are based on the solar calendar and thus fall on
the same day every year.
