Sikh (Nanakshahi Calendar)

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.

Date in Nanakshahi	Date in Common Era
Chet	March 14
Vaisakh	April 13
Jeth	May 14
Harh	June 15
Sawan	July 16
Bhadon 1	August 16
Asu	September 16
Katik	October 17
Maghar	November 16
Poh	December 15
Magh	January 14
Phagan	February 12

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:

Name of Season	Corresponding Months
Vasanta (spring)	March and April
Grishma (summer)	May and June
Varsha (the rains)	July and August
Sharad (autumn)	September and October
Hemanta (winter)	November and December
Shishira (the cool season)	January and February.

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.