Bikrami Sammat

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Bikrami Sammat: A Calendar named after a Hindu king Vikramaditya. In Punjabi Vikrami is pronounced as Bikrami. Its abbreviation is Bk. The Hindus calculate their dates as per the Hindu astrology. For a Sikh all the calendars have the same significance. During the time of Guru Sahib, Bikrami Sammat was in practice and now Gregorian calendar is used by the whole of the world.

A Bikrami, or Desi year, is a solar year which starts on the 13 of March, or the start of Spring, and consists of 365 days. Some of its months consists of 30 days, some are of 31 and others are of 32 days. This calendar is in traditional use in Punjab (both in India and Pakistan). Later the use was changed to other calendars including the Islamic calendar, the NanakShahi Calendar and the Gregorian Calendar

S.No.	Month Name	Duration
1.	Chetar   	Mid of March to Mid of April
2.	Visakh  	Mid of April to Mid of May
3.	Jeth    	Mid of May to Mid of June
4.	Har	        Mid of June to Mid of July
5.	Sawan   	Mid of July to Mid of August
6.	Badru   	Mid of August to Mid of September
7.	Asoo    	Mid of September to Mid of October
8.	Katten  	Mid of October to Mid of November
9.	Maghar  	Mid of Novemberto Mid of December
10.	Poh     	Mid of December Mid of January
11.	Mah     	Mid of January Mid of February
12.	Phaggan  	Mid of February to Mid of March


A day consists of 8 Pahars. Early morning is called Subah Sajrey after that comes Dhammi vela then Pesheen vela then Deegar vela then nimasheen vela then Sota vela and then Raat vela and then adh raat vela.

References

1. The Sikh Reference Book, Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer 1997