Your Home screen
The Sikh and Punjabi community has its own Home screen in OIOA. Choose Sikh / Punjabi in Settings and you’ll see:
- The Nanakshahi calendar: today’s date in Nanakshahi months, Chet to Phagun.
- Your choice of version: the original 2003 Nanakshahi calendar or the SGPC method.
- Everything every community shares: holidays and long weekends, reminders, family, groups, cards, the GST calculator and more.
Calendar calculations run on your phone, so the Sikh/Punjabi Home screen works offline.
The Nanakshahi calendar
The Nanakshahi calendar counts years from the birth of Guru Nanak Dev Ji in 1469. Its twelve months carry the familiar Punjabi names: Chet, Vaisakh, Jeth, Harh, Sawan, Bhadon, Assu, Katak, Maghar, Poh, Magh and Phagun. The first day of each month is Sangrand (from sankranti), observed by many with a visit to the gurdwara.
Two versions are in use today, and OIOA supports both:
- The original Nanakshahi calendar (2003), a solar calendar of the length of the tropical year, with month starts and most gurpurabs on fixed dates in the Common Era calendar.
- The SGPC method, as amended in 2010, under which months follow the traditional Bikrami solar reckoning and several gurpurabs follow lunar dates, so their Common Era dates move from year to year.
Sangats, gurdwaras and families follow different versions. OIOA doesn’t choose for you: pick the version your family or gurdwara follows. The two versions explained sets out the differences respectfully.
Days that matter
- Guru Nanak Gurpurab, the Prakash Purab of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
- Vaisakhi, the harvest festival and the day the Khalsa was founded in 1699.
- Gurpurabs of the other Gurus, Shaheedi Purabs, Bandi Chhor Divas and Hola Mohalla.
- Sangrand, the first day of each month, and Masya and Puranmashi for those who observe them.
Under the SGPC method, many of these move each year. A reminder helps you keep track. Our festival pages explain each occasion without publishing unverified dates.
In your language
The Sikh/Punjabi Home screen is available in Punjabi (Gurmukhi), as well as English, Hindi and the other supported languages. The EN ⇄ local-language toggle switches the whole page. See multi-language.
Sikh and Punjabi
We’ve named this Home screen Sikh / Punjabi because the Nanakshahi and Bikrami calendars, Sangrand and Vaisakhi are part of life for Sikh families and for many Punjabi families of other faiths too. If you’d like the name or the content to better reflect your community, please tell us.
More on the Sikh/Punjabi Home screen
- Nanakshahi 2003 and SGPCThe original 2003 Nanakshahi calendar and the SGPC method compared: how each fixes months and gurpurabs, and how to choose the one you follow in OIOA.
- Nanakshahi calendarHow the Nanakshahi calendar works: its era from 1469, the twelve months from Chet to Phagun, Sangrand, and how OIOA shows today's Nanakshahi date.