The showdown resulted in temporary victory for the Akal Takht. 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 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 two institutions that rule Sikhism were on opposite sides. The first attempt to introduce the Nanakshahi calendar was in 1999 but it was almost immediately banned. The implementation of the calendar was approved unanimously by leading Sikh organisations in March 2003. leap year every 4 years in which the last month (Phagun) has an extra day.contains 5 months of 31 days followed by 7 months of 30 days.year length is same as Western calendar (365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 45 seconds).uses most of the mechanics of the Western calendar.year one is the year of Guru Nanak's birth (1469 CE).called Nanakshahi after Guru Nanak (founder of Sikhism).Purewal believed that having a unique calendar was vital for the integrity of the Sikh religion. He started work on the calendar in the 1960s.

The Nanakshahi Calendar was developed by a Canadian Sikh, Pal Singh Purewal, a retired computer engineer. Those Sikh festivals that are celebrated at the same time as similar Hindu religious events, such as Diwali and Hola Mohalla, still have their dates set by the Vikrami calendar. The calendar didn't fix the date of all Sikh festivals. Gurpurbs (celebrations devoted to particular Gurus) now always happen on the same date, and occur once (and once only) in every year. The Nanakshahi Calendar was adopted in 2003 and made life much easier for Sikhs as their holy days no longer move about the calendar from year to year. The Sikh calendar is called the Nanakshahi Calendar and takes its name from Guru Nanak, who founded Sikhism.įor 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.

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