The Nanakshahi Calendar — our own clock

The Nanakshahi calendar is the Sikh solar calendar, named in honour of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and counting years from the year of his birth in 1469. It was formally adopted in 2003 and gives Gurpurabs fixed dates each year — so Vaisakhi always falls on 14 April and Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s Gurpurab always falls in November — rather than floating with the lunar cycle. The twelve months have Punjabi names rooted in Punjab’s seasons and agricultural rhythms, and they appear across Gurbani, most beautifully in Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s Barah Maha, where each month becomes a meditation on longing for the Divine. Having your own calendar is a way of saying: our community has its own story, its own rhythm, its own way of marking time.