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Guru Nanak Ji Sahib’s Birthday – April or October ? Two scholarly articles on this topic

Guru Nanak’s Birthday – April or October?

Guru Nanak was born on Baisakhi Day – April 15, 1469. But Sikhs have continued to celebrate it on Katak Dee Puranmashi – the month of October / Novemnber. A recent article by Prof Harbans Lal has suggested that both days are relevant – Guru Nanak was born in April 1469 but obtained “Parkash” in October of 1496 at age 27.

Dr. Karminder Singh disagrees, arguing that accepting such a dichotomy is deeply problematic, unsupported by Gurmat and Gurbani, and an attempt to justify the continued practice of celebrating Guru Nanak’s birthday on the wrong date.

We publish below two competing views on the issue. The first by Prof Harbans Lal and the second –a critique of the same – by Karminder Singh, Phd (Boston).

Both articles, by courtesy of The Sikh Bulletin (www.sikhbulletin.com) where both first appeared in the November – December issue of 2018. Webmaster Sikhi Vichar Forum.