Sikh Calendar 2024

Features of The Sikh Calendar 2024

This Punjab Calendar 2024 is crucial in determining the dates of the Sikh festival today and the ones that are coming. People not only follow the rituals for the sake of preserving cultural roots but also consider this as a time to remember the spiritual practices of the ten Sikh Gurus and promote their teachings and lessons to their kids for character-building. People even decorate houses, sing songs, and do their traditional folk dance at some of these festivals. The major population of Punjabis in India follow this calendar and, hence, will be looking forward to the Punjabi Calendar 2024.

The Sikh Calendar is a lunisolar calendar and has been designed keeping in mind the position of the moon (lunar months) first, and then, an extra month is added in leap years to sync it with the Sun’s position (solar months).

The unique features of the Sikh Calendar includes:

• The Year in the Sikh Calendar is based on the Sun’s position instead of the Earth’s. It follows the Tropical or Solar year (365 Days, 5 Hours, 48 Minutes, 45 Seconds) accurately (the time the Sun takes to come back to the same position).
• The months, seasons and days in the Sikh Calendar are based on the Moon’s phase (new moon to new moon or full moon to full moon). This also helps in marking the Punjabi festival today, tomorrow and upcoming.
• The month names are taken from the Gurbani - the spiritual texts mentioned in the Guru Granth Sahib.
• If you closely look at the Punjabi Calendar 2024, you will find that it has 5 months of 30 days followed by 7 months of 31 days.
• The leap years in the Sikh Calendar occur every four years, have an extra day, and a 13th month ( Chet month occurs twice).
• The Sikh Calendar was approved by the chief centre of the religious authority of Sikhism, the Akal Takth, in 2003.

Sikh Calendar 2024: Months and Duration

The Sikh Calendar was first mentioned properly in the 1960s and was documented as the Nanakshahi Calendar. It was named after the birth of Guru Nanak Dev Ji (founder of Sikhism), considering his birth era as a reference point of time (epoch) to decide for the months in a year. As briefly mentioned in the Guru Granth Sahib, there are 12 months in a year in Sikhism, known as Bani or 'Baareh Maahaa', indicating changes in nature.

These 12 months are mentioned in the Sikh terms in the holy book and are adapted in the Sikh Calendar 2024 as well, like every year. Let us have a look at how Sikh months are distributed in a year, as these are the months that are linked to different Sikh festival.

Major Sikh Festival 2024

Festivals are a time to recall the teachings of the spiritual teachers, remember Rabb and promote harmony, peace and good acts. In a similar way, each Sikh festival is welcomed every year. This year as well, there are some major festivals in Sikhism which are enjoyed by all religions in India and are given a holiday in schools and offices.

Guru Nanak Jayanti

Guru Nanak Jayanti is an important day of the year for the Sikh people. Also known as the Gurupurab, this festival falls on Kartik Purnima (15th November 2024). People from all around the world visit Gurudwaras to celebrate the birth of the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak Dev Ji and recall him through his teachings and listen to the song compositions of the Guru Granth Sahib (Gurbani).

Lohri

This Sikh festival occurs in the Magha month in Sikh language. According to the Punjabi Calendar 2024, Lohri will fall on the 14th of January. This day marks the beginning of the new financial year and the first harvest month among the Punjabi people and indicates a time to start new journeys. People decorate their houses, gather together and welcome the festival with folk dances and songs. It is one of the most celebrated festivals in Northern India.

Vaisakhi

Vaisakhi, also known as Baisakh, is another popular festival in Northern India. This festival celebrates the harvest season of the year. People also consider it a Sikh New Year’s first day based on the Khalsa era calendar. On this day, the Khalsa Panth (the purest one) was established by Shri Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Six Guru, in March 1699. This makes this day an extremely important period for the Sikh community. As per the Punjabi calendar 2024, this harvest festival will fall on the 13th of April.

Bandi Chhor Divas / Diwali

Bandi Chor Divas marks the Diwali of the Sikh people - the celebration of lights and fireworks. On this day, the Sixth Sikh Guru, Hargobind Sahib, along with 52 Hindu kings, were freed from the Mughal imprisonment at Gwalior Fort. It is said that Jahangir had a dream where God asked him to release the Sikh Guru. Hargobind Sahib asked Jahangir to free all the kings along with him if he had to free him.

Hola Mohalla (One day after Hindu Holi)

Hola Mohalla is a joyful festival in Sikhism. It is observed just one day after the Hindu Holi festival. Sikh people welcome the Spring season with a 3-day Sikh festival, where people gather to see martial arts and folk dances and later play with colours. People also remember Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s birth at Anandpur Sahib on this day, and some practice combat skills showcasing their preparation for times of war.

How is the Sikh Calendar 2024 calculated?

The Sikh Calendar is calculated on the basis of two eras - The Nanakshahi and the Khalsa. So, earlier, Punjabis considered both eras to decide dates for the Punjabi festival today, tomorrow, and the ones yet to come. Both of these eras closely followed the Vikram Era, where there are 12 lunar months (based on the occurrence of a full moon every month) and then an extra month is added to match it with the solar year (Sun’s rotation).

• The Nanakshahi Era: It marked the beginning of a full moon (Katak Puranmaashi) and was named after the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, in 1710 CE.
• The Khalsa Era: It marked the beginning of the harvest season (Vaisakhi) and the year Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born (14th April, 1469 CE).

The Sikh Calendar New Yea earlier used to begin in the month of Chet. The first date of this month is called “1 Chet”, which is 14th March in the Gregorian calendar. In fact, the year “2024” will correspond to “555” in this Punjabi calendar.

However, the Khalsa era, kept at equal value with the Nanakshahi era, considered the 14th of April as the beginning of the Sikh New Year, the month of Baisakh and the birth date of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. So, later, after significant changes in the calendar, the Sikh calendar New Year was fixed to start on the 14th of April.

Later, Nanakshahi Samvat / era and the Khalsa era were matched to come to a common Sikh Calendar, where the specific festive birth dates were fixed while other festivals could change by the difference of a few days based on the Moon’s phase and the Sun’s position. This is how the Sikh Calendar 2024 is calculated, like every year’s Sikh Calendar for noting the Sikh festival today, tomorrow and others.

Significance of the Sikh Calendar 2024

In the sacred Guru Granth Sahib, the Gurus ask the people to remember the lords associated with each Sikh month, mentioned on pages 133 to 136 as ‘Bani’ or "Baareh Maahaa" (12 months). Like other religions, we have Gurus in Sikhism who have taught and preached spiritual knowledge in ancient times. These scholars are highly regarded as the messengers of God in the Sikh culture or for the Punjabi people. They have introduced a list of Sikh festival to spread the message of how to lead a life in the most moral manner.

For all the Punjabis and Sikhs across the world, we have brought a list of auspicious dates and festivals for 2024 that you eagerly wait for every year. This read will allow you to make a note of all the upcoming events and rituals to celebrate harmony, recall sacrifices, promote peace and seek blessings of God or “Rabb in Sikhism”.

Due to various adaptations of the Sikh dates and festivals, people were confused about what to follow. Later, after years of discussions, a final Sikh Calendar was made so that all Punjabi auspicious events could be carefully noted. These have links to the Ten Sikh Gurus in Sikhism, who are the foundations of the Sikh community and, therefore, highly important. Their spiritual practices are all that the people live by, and follow the moral principles taught by them in the Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib.

The Ten Sikh Gurus who have laid the foundation of 12 months in a year and made the Sikh religion powerful by their teachings are - Guru Nanak Dev Ji (1469-1539), Guru Angad (1469-1539), Guru Amardas (1552-1574), Guru Ramdas (1574-1581), Guru Arjun (1581-1606), Guru Hargobind (1606-1645), Guru Harrai (1645-1661), Guru Harkishan (1661-1664), Guru Tej Bahadur (1664-1675), and Guru Gobind Singh (1675-1708).

Using the Sikh Calendar 2024, people can make early preparations for the upcoming festive days, months and seasons. These preparations also give an opportunity to promote peace and togetherness for the Sikh festival today, tomorrow and the ones ahead of them. By marking the Punjabi festival today, tomorrow, and the ones coming after, the Sikhs would do all the rituals on time, paying respect and honouring the festivals and related Gurus and lords in their true sense.