Sikh Calendar

[carin]

The Sikh calendar is called the Nanakshahi Calendar and takes its name from Guru Nanak, who founded Sikhism.

Other religions, like Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism, have long had their own calendars. But for most of its history Sikhism has used the traditional Vikrami (or Bikrami) calendar, shared by Sikhs and Hindus in North India, to set the date of its festivals.

The Nanakshahi Calendar was implemented in 2003 and is seen by Sikhs as a big step forward for Sikh identity, and one that will help dispel any suggestions that Sikhism is just a variety of Hinduism.

The calendar does include some controversial new celebrations: June 4 is noted as the anniversary of the attack on the Akal Takht, and June 6 as the "martyrdom" of Sant Baba Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. It also lists as "martyrdom days" the death anniversary of the two assassins of the former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

<H2 title="Subsection title">Benefits</H2>The new calendar makes life much easier for Sikhs as their holy days will no longer move about the calendar from year to year. Gurpurbs (celebrations devoted to particular Gurus) will now always happen on the same date, and occur once (and once only) in every year.

The calendar doesn't fix the date of all Sikh festivals. Those Sikh festivals, which are celebrated at the same time as similar Hindu religious events, such as Diwali and Hola Mohalla, will still have their dates set by the Vikrami calendar.

<H2 title="Subsection title">Features of the new calendar</H2>

• a solar calendar
  
• called Nanakshahi after Guru Nanak (founder of Sikhism)
  
• year one is the year of Guru Nanak's birth (1469 CE)
  
• 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
  

<H2 title="Subsection title">Calendar creator</H2>The Nanakshahi Calendar was developed by a Canadian Sikh, Pal Singh Purewal, a retired computer engineer. He started work on the new calendar in the 1960s.

Purewal believes that having a unique calendar is vital for the integrity of the Sikh religion.

All communities and faiths have their own calendar as a mark of their distinct cultural identity. Just as the Islamic world has the Hijri calendar and Hindus have Vikrami calendar, the Sikhs will have a Nanakshahi calendar along with the common era (CE) calendar which is in use throughout the world. Pal Singh Purewal

<H2 title="Subsection title">Political history of the calendar</H2>The implementation of the new calendar was approved unanimously by leading Sikh organisations in March 2003.

This was a great improvement on the first attempt to introduce the Nanakshahi calendar in 1999, when the calendar was introduced and then almost immediately banned.

The two institutions that rule Sikhism were on opposite sides. The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee or SGPC (the top Sikh religious institution) implemented the Nanakshahi calendar in December 1999, despite an order from the Akal Takht (the other top religious and legal institution in Sikhism) that the calendar should not be implemented until a general consensus emerged on the issue within the Sikh community.

The SGPC decided that an important festival should be celebrated on January 5, the date given by the new calendar, while the Akal Takht insisted that the it should be on January 14, the date in the traditional calendar.

The showdown resulted in temporary victory for the Akal Takht. The SGPC backed down, senior SGPC officials suffered various religious punishments, and a top SGPC official was excommunicated.

Ordinary Sikhs were left in utter confusion and for the next few years some followed the lunar calendar (Vikrami or Bikrami) while others used the solar calendar (Nanakshahi).

Now the controversy should be over.

<H2 title="Subsection title">Calendar rights and wrongs</H2>The arguments aren't just about scientific issues concerning the accuracy of the calendar but about the identity and status of Sikhism and the Sikh community within Hindu-majority India.

The Holy Golden Temple, Amritsar ©

Traditional Sikhs opposed the change because it broke with the past, but Sikh radicals supported it because it gives Sikhs their own calendar and emphasised their separate identity from Hindus.

Some people pointed out that most religions base their calendars on the movements of the moon, and not that of the sun, that this was somehow more spiritual, and so a Sikh religious calendar should also follow the moon.

Others argued that the new calendar wasn't really Sikh at all, but was just a "solarised" version of the Hindu calendar or a version of the Western calendar with added Sikh elements.

Some politicians pointed out that the old Vikrami calendar, and the sharing of some Hindu and Sikh festivals, was one of the few elements of Punjab culture that had survived the growing breakdown between the Sikh and Hindu communities in North India.

But other politicians, anxious to establish the separateness of the Sikh community, supported the new calendar as another pillar of Sikh identity.

Moderate Sikhs were anxious about anything that might cause trouble between Sikhs and Hindus in the hothouse atmosphere of Indian communal relations, particularly in the Sikh heartland of the Punjab.

[Guest peacemaker]

Glad you were able to post this on your own, Carinder!!! :D

[Revolutionary]

Others argued that the new calendar wasn't really Sikh at all, but was just a "solarised" version of the Hindu calendar or a version of the Western calendar with added Sikh elements.

exactly :D

got away from Eastern Lunar, gone for Western Solar

Stil not "ours"

u kno why Sikhi didnt have its own calender? Guru didnt feel the need to create a new system! Too much waste of time.. rather be spreading the legacy of Guru Nanak

[guptveer1469]

Revolutionary,

Ever heard of Jainism? Hindus, by propaganda have merged Jainism into the Hindu fold. RSS will use these things to say that Sikhs are Hindus and by 2-3 generations, Sikhism will result into a situation like Jainism. RSS will say that the Sikh have the same calender as the Hindus so the Sikhs are Hindus.. Already their stupid claims are believed by us Sikhs, and you want that we give them even more chances to degrade Sikhi and put Sikhs into Hindu fold.

[Singhballer]

In India Sikhs are classified as Hindus so i would say its more about taking us away from them.