Mool Nanakshahi Calendar

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Mool Nanakshahi Calendar is the Sikh Calendar. At first glance, one may not know the difference between the current Nanakshahi Calendar (1999 adopted by SGPC and then three dates reverted to Bikrami in 2003 but still referred to as “Nanakshahi") and the Mool Nanakshahi Calendar. A deeper understanding of the history and efforts made by Sikh scholars, to create a distinct Sikh calendar is vital. In 2003, Pal Singh Purewal, who had been working towards the Sikh calendar since the 1960s, introduced the Nanakshahi Calendar. The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee had implemented and launched the copies of the Mool Nanakshahi Callender on 14 April 2003 from the land of Takhat Sri Damdama Sahib under the presidency of prominent Sikh scholar Prof Kirpal Singh Badungar and Akal Takhat Jathedar Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti (chairman of the committee for Mool Nanakshahi Callender) on the occasion of Baisakhi in the presence of large community gathering (unlike Bikrami callender which is based on lunar setup the Mool Nanakshahi Callender was largely based on solar system). As per the SGPC records 21 meetings were held having deep deliberations before the implementation of this Callender. Sikhs throughout the world have embraced the Mool Nanakshahi Callender with full reverence as the Sikh scholars with empirical research have held that the Callender had its roots to the First Khalsa Raj established by Baba Banda Singh Bahadur who first released and implemented it.

A Calendar Reform Committee composed of many scholars and representatives of various academic institutions met at the Institute of Sikh Studies in Chandigarh in 1995. In 1996, a formal proposal was submitted to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC).^[1] The SGPC issued a General House Resolution asking the Sikhs across the world to adopt the Sikh Calendar.^[2] In 2003, although some of the dates were largely adopted as fixed dates, some due to cultural and political concerns were dismissed and reverted to Bikrami dates, which were later synchronized in 2017 when the Mool Nanakshahi Calendar was introduced to fix all dates.^[3]

Pal Singh Purewal, introduced the term Mool (original) Nanakshahi Calendar in 2017.^[4] The new term meant to distinguish from the current Nanakshahi Calendar which was altered in 2003 to include movable Bikrami dates in addition to the new adopted dates by the SGPC in 1999. This pre-altered versional of the calendar is was the one proposed by the Calendar Reform Committee in 1995 and accepted by the SGPC in 1999.^[5] The original calendar synchronized Mool Nanakshahi (religious) Calendar with Common Era (CE) Calendar, permanently and hence termed Mool Nanakshahi Calendar.

There are notable differences between the Nanakshahi Calendar and the Mool Nanakshahi Calendar. Understanding the motivation and decades of research to reflect the accuracy of historical events is essential.^[6] The Mool Nanakshahi Calendar continues to gather support^[7] across the world as Sikhs yearn to follow fixed dates which are an accurate historical representation of the Sikh History and an attempt at adding integrity to the Sikh identity.^[8][9][10] This provides the platform for Sikhs to agree on a common calendar.^[11][12] Sardar Pal Singh Purewal, the main architect of the calendar, has written scholarly articles on this issue^[13] and explains the difference between the Mool Nanakshahi Calendar and Bikrami Calendars.^[14][15] There is a difference between the Nanakshai Calendar and the Mool Nanakshahi Calendar as such as the Mool Nanakshahi Calendar fixes dates which were movable in the Nanakshahi Calendar.

In 2018, The Akal Takhat Jathedar, Giani Gurbachan Singh asked that the Sikhs should unite and adopt the new Nanakshahi Calendar and that the "majority of Sikh sects, including Nihangs, Nirmalays, Udhasis and Damdami Taksal, observe and want to observe Sikh religious days according to the (amended) Nanakshahi calendar.".^[16] The Sikh communities around the world are embracing the calendar.

Sikh Communities Embracing the Mool Nanakshahi Calendar[]

• Most Gurdwaras in Jammu and Kashmir
• Sikh Youth of Punjab (SYP)^[17]
• The American Sikh Council
• Sikh Religious Society of Wisconsin
• Sikh Society of Michigan
• Mata Tripta Ji Gurdwara Sahib, Michigan
• Singh Sabha of Michigan
• Tri State Sikh Cultural Society, PA
• Sikh Gurdwara, Rochester Hills, MI
• Gurudwara Sikh Center Houston
• Sikh Centre of Seattle
• Khalsa Sikh Center, Michigan
• Guru Nanak Sikh Society, IN
• Downriver Sikh Temple, Michigan
• Gurdwara Sahib Guru Nanak Darbar, Ohio
• Guru Angad Institute of Sikh Studies, Virginia
• Sikh National Archives of Canada
• Guru Nanak Darbar Society, Bolingbrook, IL
• Sikh Religious Society, Palatine, IL
• Illinois Sikh Community Center
• Sikh Society of Central Florida

Meaning of the Word Mool[]

The "Mool" prefix, means "original". SGPC released a calendar that was close to this one on the 300th year of Khalsa's Creation in 1999.

In the News[]

The extensive 2 day Mool Nanakshahi Calendar Implementation Conference in Chicago detailed the significance of the changes. Several scholars and topics on this topic lead the presentations and discussions.^[18]

• Mool Nanakshahi Calendar gains momentum across the world.^[19][20]
• March 2020, Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabadhak Committee released the Mool Nanakshahi Calendar.^[21]

Significant Resolutions[]

Significant resolutions were adopted at the Chicago conference in December 2017.^[22] More importantly three dates were fixed for the upcoming years so that the Nanak's Gurpurab, Bandee Chorrd Divas, and Holla-Muhalla fall on the same date each year. The fixed dates, in addition to the already constant Vaisakhi April 14 date, are:

• Bandee Chorrd Divas – February 12 every year
• Holla-Muhalla – March 14 every year
• Guru Nanak's Gurpurab – April 14 every year
• Vaisakhi - April 14 every year^[23]

Months[]

The months in the Mool Nanakshahi calendar are:^[24]

^[26]

References[]