The turning year
Barah Maha: the twelve months, their festivals, crops and songs.
The turning year
Barah Maha · the twelve monthsThe year begins. In Guru Nanak's Barah Maha, Chet is when the woods flower and the bumblebee hums, and the bride longs for her Lord.
- Weather
- Warm days, cool nights; the wheat turns gold.
- In the fields
- Watching the wheat ripen; the last vegetables of winter.
- Festivals
- Mela Chiraghan · Navratri
- Look for
- Kanak
The richest month: the grain is in, debts are paid, and the dhol plays for bhangra.
Jeth and Harh, the scorching pair, are the months of thirst and waiting in every song.
- Weather
- The hottest month: the loo wind, 45°C and dust storms.
- In the fields
- Fields lie bare; people sleep on the roofs.
- Festivals
- Chhabeel: sweet water for passers-by, remembering Guru Arjan
- Look for
- Tahli shade · Toot
Clouds gather; the peacock begins to cry.
- Weather
- Heat breaks into the first monsoon storms.
- In the fields
- Rice nurseries, then transplanting in flooded fields.
- Look for
- Mor
The month of swings and longing: married daughters come home, and everyone else's beloved is far away.
- Weather
- Rain, green everywhere, swollen rivers.
- In the fields
- Rice growing; cattle fat on the new grass.
- Festivals
- Teeyan
- Look for
- Koel and papiha · Peepal swings
A sticky, anxious month, when offerings are made to Gugga, lord of snakes.
- Weather
- Heavy, humid heat; floods.
- In the fields
- Weeding, guarding the crops; snakes in the fields.
- Festivals
- Gugga Naumi and the Chhapar mela · Janmashtami
The air clears; families remember their ancestors.
Lamps on every roof's edge, and the busiest fortnight of the farming year.
- Weather
- Cool evenings, golden light.
- In the fields
- Rice cut; wheat sown straight after.
- Festivals
- Diwali · Bandi Chhor Divas · Guru Nanak's birthday
- Look for
- Kanak sown
The season of weddings, with the harvest money in hand.
- Weather
- The cold sets in; first fogs.
- In the fields
- Sugarcane crushed, gur boiled in the fields.
- Festivals
- Wedding season
- Look for
- Ganna
Poh is remembered for the martyrdom of Guru Gobind Singh's sons, and ends with Lohri's bonfires.
- Weather
- The coldest month: dense fog, frost.
- In the fields
- Wheat growing; long nights by the fire.
- Look for
- Sarson
The fields turn yellow and the kites go up.
- Weather
- Cold, bright days.
- In the fields
- Mustard in yellow flower.
- Festivals
- Maghi at Muktsar · Basant
- Look for
- Sarson
Colour and mock battles at Anandpur, and the year comes round to Chet again.
- Weather
- Warmth returns; spring winds.
- In the fields
- Wheat in ear; mustard seeds gathered.
- Festivals
- Holi · Hola Mohalla
The Punjabi year is solar: each month begins mid-way through a Western one, on sangrand, when Guru Arjan's Barah Maha is read in gurdwaras. Guru Nanak wrote a Barah Maha too, and so did Bulleh Shah. Muslim festivals follow the moon, so Eid, Muharram and the urs days move through all twelve months.
Why the festivals move
Sun, moon, and bothScroll sideways to see the whole figure →
| Kind | The year | Festivals in the Punjab | Calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solar | 365¼ days, follows the sun and the seasons | Vaisakhi, the harvest new year; Lohri and Maghi | Nanakshahi (2003) and Gregorian dates; the Bikrami solar months |
| Lunisolar | 12 lunar months of about 29½ days, plus a leap month about every three years | Most Gurpurabs, Diwali and Bandi Chhor, Holi and Hola Mohalla | Bikrami (Hindu) calendar: the day moves by up to a month, then catches up |
| Lunar | 12 lunar months, 354 days, no leap month | Ramadan, Eid, Muharram | Hijri (Islamic) calendar: goes round all the seasons in about 33 years |
Dates for Eid depend on the sighting of the moon and can differ by a day between countries. In 2003 the SGPC adopted the Nanakshahi calendar, which fixed Gurpurabs to solar dates; in 2010 it went back to lunar dates for most of them, while many gurdwaras abroad and in Pakistan kept the 2003 version.