By Karminder Singh Dhillon | Opinion |
One swallow does not make a summer. And one man’s confusion does not make for “Panthic confusion.”
In arguing that Guru Nanak’s birthday should not revert to its historically correct date of 1st of Vaisakh (April) and instead be maintained in Kathik (November); Dr B.S. Bains, in his opinion titled “This is Panthic confusion, not Panthic awareness” in Asia Samachar (May 14, 2026), has asked:
“Which authority officially shifted the observance of Guru Nanak Sahib’s birth anniversary from April to November? When exactly did this transition take place, and under whose administration or historical circumstances was such a change introduced?”
THE AUTHORITIES
Here are the authorities:
i) Two documents – namely the Sakhi Mehlay Pehlay Ki by Sheehan Upal and Janam Patri Babey Ki by Bhai Boola Pandhay composed in 1570 and 1597, respectively – during the era of the third and fourth Gurus say that Guru Nanak was born in Vaisakh.
ii) Bhai Gurdas writes in Pauree 27 of Vaar 1 that Guru Nanak was born on the 1st of Vaisakh.
iii) Seven prominent Sikh and non-Sikh historians write that Guru Nanak was born in Vaisakh. They are Karam Singh Historian, Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha, Dr Ganda Singh, Principal Satbir Singh Historian, Prof Sahib Singh, Historian Dr Hari Ram Gupta and historian Max Arthur Macauliffe.
iv) The Sikh panth has 6 different Janam Sakhis that narrate the life of Guru Nanak. Five of them state unequivocally that Guru Nanak was born in Vaisakh. The one that says he was born in Kathik November (Balay Valee) also narrates other nonsense such as Guru Nanak married a Muslim lady, belonged to the Tayli (low) caste in his previous life and had to be reborn into a Khatri (high caste) family to redeem himself, and rode the back of whale to cross the ocean to go to Baghdad, Mecca and Medina).
SEE ALSO: Explainer: Guru Nanak’s birthday
v) As for “when exactly did this transition take place, and under whose administration or historical circumstances was such a change introduced?”, readers may watch my 4-year-old video titled “The Hijacking of Guru Nank’s Birthday” for the answers. (Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tliBrKSxyEI).
Even if one chose to accept the Balay Valee Janam Sakhi, it still does not entail confusion. It certainly does not amount to “panthic confusion.” At the very least it speaks of an inner desire to want to continue to believe, accept and do what is proven to be historically wrong, and continue to disbelieve, not accept and not do what is right. One cannot be faulted for thinking that even if Guru Nanak comes back to tell us he was born in April, such people will ask him “but which authority officially shifted your birthday from April to November?”
IT IS ALL ABOUT MONEY
The failure and or refusal by the panth to do what is right – revert to celebrating Guru Nanak’s birthday on the 1st of Vaisakh – has nothing to do with confusion – individual or collective. It is all about money, especially on the part of the two groups that stand in opposition to doing the right thing; namely the Gurdwara parbandhaks (management) and our clergy (parcharaks, ragis, kathakars). The Sikh world’s two biggest Gurpurabs (read money earners) are Vaisakhi and Guru Nanak’s birthday. Two separate celebrations mean twice the amount of big chrrawa collections. Combining them would half the income. Why would people who don’t care for the truth want to do that?
That is why we have some Gurdwaras who claim they celebrate Guru Nanak’s birthdaytogether with the Khalsa Birthday on the 1st of Vaisakh. What they don’t tell us is that they will celebrate it a second time in November. Chrrawa does matter.
That is why we have parcharaks, ragis and kathakars who attend the November celebration and sit on the stages and tell the sangats “but sadh sangat ji, Guru Nanak was actually born on Vaisakhi Day (April).” As our religious leaders, they have no real intent of changing things. Their only intent is the stage, big crowds and big shabd bhayt. Why change when two huge packets of Shabd Bhayt are obtainable instead of one?
Dr B.S. Bains says: “Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), together with the supreme authority of Akal Takht, may therefore have an important role in bringing clarity and stability to the Panth on this sensitive matter.”
Could Dr. B.S. Bains give us a single example of a single problem that the SGPC and AT has solved for the Sikh Panth in the past 50 years? Ragmala? Paid Akhand Paths? Having langar on chairs? Dasam Granth? Nanakshahi Calendar? Which world are we living in to not know that the very institutions that are supposed to provide solutions are actually part of the problem? In any case, the SGPC website tells us that Guru Nanak was born in Vaisakh. It is ironic that one does not want to accept what the SGPC website says, but then wants the SGPC to resolve this birthdate issue. Hasn’t it already been resolved? Or will we only consider it resolved when SGPC says its own website is wrong and that it is actually inNovember?
Dr. B.S. Bains says “Scholars explain that these differences may have emerged because of varying interpretations of lunar calendars, solar calculations, Bikrami dating systems, historical manuscripts, and later calendar reforms.”
It would be interesting to know which scholar has explained the pushing of Guru Nanak’s birthday from April to November (7 months) through “varying interpretations of lunar calendars, solar calculations, Bikrami dating systems, historical manuscripts, and later calendar reforms.” One can understand that all of these factors can result in a discrepancy of 4 – 5 days or at the most a week. But to blame a 7-month discrepancy on such things (other than historical records) is hogwash.
THE REAL DANGER
Dr. B.S. Bains then writes: The real danger (of Research) begins when discussions become ego-driven battles, when social media reduces sacred matters into entertainment, and when Sikhs begin mocking fellow Sikhs more than outsiders ever could.
Actually, the real danger is when people ignore historical facts derived through research due to their own inner insecurities over handling the truth and their inabilities in dealing with change.
Dr B.S. Bains is correct when he says “Guru Nanak Sahib’s greatness was never confined to a calendar date alone. His eternal message was about the oneness of humanity, remembrance of the Divine, honest living, humility, compassion, and sharing with others.” Yet, the truth cannot be ignored. Sikhs who cannot even get the most basic fact of Guru Nanak’s birthdate correct lose the moral high ground to lecture the rest of us about the Guru’s “eternal messages.”
Everyone should respect Dr. B.S. Bains’ view when he writes “I feel, in the interest of Panthic unity and continuity of long-standing tradition, the Kartik Gurpurab observance that has been followed for centuries should continue to be adhered to with authority and dictatory terms” even if we know that falsehood has no “authority and no dictatory terms” whatsoever. Observing a falsehood over centuries as a long-standing tradition does not turn it into the truth.
Guru Nanak was about the truth. Surely the historical truth of his birthdate matters.
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Sikh thinker, writer and parcharak Karminder Singh Dhillon, PhD (Boston), is a retired Malaysian civil servant. He is the joint-editor of The Sikh Bulletin and author of The Hijacking of Sikhi. The author can be contacted at dhillon99@gmail.com.
RELATED STORY:
Dual Vaisakhi observance reflects growing Panthic awareness (Asia Samachar, 12 May 2026)
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