Punjabi calendar

Seal of Punjab India (left) Coat of Arms Punjab Pakistan (right)

The Punjabi calendar is based on the Bikrami calendar which started in 57 B.C. with King Vikramaditya. The calendar uses the solar aspect of the Bikrami calendar and has the first day of Vaisakh as the Punjabi new year which is celebrated as Vaisakhi.

The Punjabi months (solar)

The months of the Punjabi calendar are:

No.	Name	Punjabi Gurmukhi	Punjabi Shahmukhi	Western months
1	Vaisakh	ਵੈਸਾਖ	ویساکھ	Mid April – Mid May
2	Jeth	ਜੇਠ	جیٹھ	Mid May – Mid June
3	Harh	ਹਾੜ	ہاڑھ	Mid June – Mid July
4	Sawan	ਸਾਵਣ	ساون	Mid July – Mid August
5	Bhadon	ਭਾਦੋਂ	بھادوں	Mid August – Mid September
6	Assu	ਅੱਸੂ	اسو	Mid September – Mid October
7	Katak	ਕੱਤਕ	کاتک	Mid October – Mid November
8	Maghar	ਮੱਘਰ	مگھر	Mid November – Mid December
9	Poh	ਪੋਹ	پوہ	Mid December – Mid January
10	Magh	ਮਾਘ	ماگھ	Mid January – Mid February
11	Phagun	ਫੱਗਣ	پھگن	Mid February – Mid March
12	Chet	ਚੇਤ	چیت	Mid March – Mid April

Punjabi lunar calendar

The lunar aspect of the calendar begins with Chait. The first day of this month however is not the new lunar year as the lunar year begins on the day after the new moon in Chait. The months of the Punjabi lunar calendar start from the day after the full moon and end on the following full moon. Accordingly, the month of Chait is split between two years whereby the two weeks up to the new moon are counted in the preceding year and the two weeks from the day after the new moon fall into the next year. However, the Chait new year is not the official Punjabi new year but as the lunar year starts with Chait, Punjabi folk poetry, Barah Maha, begins the lunar year with this month. The lunar aspect of the Punjabi calendar determines many Punjabi festivals.

As an example, the lunar calendar for 2014/2015 is illustrated below:^[1]

S.No.	Lunar Month Name	Date	Season (official)[2]	Season (Punjabi)	Full moon	New moon
1.	Chet	17 March 2014	Vasant ritu	Basant	15 April 2014	30 March 2014
2.	Vaisakh	16 April 2014	Vasant ritu	Basant	14 May 2014	29 April 2014
3.	Jeth	15 May 2014	Grishma ritu	Rohee	13 June 2014	28 May 2014
4.	Harh	14 June 2014	Grishma ritu	Rohee	12 July 2014	27 June 2014
5.	Sawan	13 July 2014	Varsha ritu	Barsat	10 August 2014	26 July 2014
6.	Bhadon	11 August 2014	Varsha ritu	Barsat	8 September 2014	25 August 2014
7.	Assu	10 September 2014	Sharad ritu	Patjhar	8 October 2014	23 September 2014
8.	Katak	9 October 2014	Sharad ritu	Patjarh	6 November 2014	23 October 2014
9.	Maghar	7 November 2014	Hemant ritu	Siaal	6 December 2014	22 November 2014
10.	Poh	7 December 2014	Hemant ritu	Siaal	4 January 2015	21 December 2014
11.	Magh	6 January 2015	Shishir ritu	Siaal	3 February 2015	20 January 2015
12.	Phaggan	4 February 2015	Shishir ritu	Siaal	5 March 2015	18 February 2015

Punjabi festivals

Festival	Month	Solar or Lunar month	Date
Maghi/Makar Sankranti	Magh	Solar	1 Magh
Holika Dahan	Phagan	Lunar	Phagan full moon
Holi	Chait	Lunar	First day of Chait after Phagan full moon
Raksha Bandhan	Sawan	Lunar	Sawan full moon
Vaisakhi	Visakh	Solar	1 Visakh
Lohri	Poh	Solar	Last day of Poh
Teej/Teeyan	Sawan	Lunar	Sawan month/3rd day from and including new moon (dark night)
Basant Festival	Magh	Lunar	5th day from and including new moon (dark night)

Punjabi folk religion: festivals

Festival	Month	Solar or Lunar month	Date
Gugga	Bhadon	Lunar	9 Bhadon
Sanjhi	Assu	Lunar	1st day of Navratri

The days in Punjabi

No.	Day in Western calendar	Day in Punjabi[3]
1.	Monday	Somvaar
2.	Tuesday	Mangalvar
3.	Wednesday	Budhvaar
4.	Thursday	Veervaar
5.	Friday	Shukarvaar
6.	Saturday	Sanicharvaar
7.	Sunday	Aitvaar

See also

• Bengali calendar
• Hindu calendar
• Indian national calendar
• Nanakshahi calendar
• Bikrami calendar

References

1. Adarsh Mobile Applications LLP. "2015 Purnima Days, Pournami Days, Full Moon Days for San Francisco, California, United States".
2. Faiths, Fairs and Festivals of India by C H Buck Rupa & CoISBN 81-7167-614-6
3. Bhatia, Tej (1993) Punjabi. Routledge