Birth Date Of Guru Nanak Dev Ji



BORN : APRIL 15,1469
PLACE : Rai Bhoi Di Talwandi [now nanakana sahib,pakistan], Near Lahore

Most janamsakhis – the traditional biographies of Nanak – mention that he was born on the third day of the bright lunar fortnight, in the Baisakh month (April) of Samvat 1526. These include they Puratan Janam Sakhi, Sodhi Meharban's Janam Sakhi, Bhai Mani Singh Janam Sakhi, and the Vairowalwali Janam Sakhi. The Sikh records state that Nanak died on the 10th day of the Asauj month of Samvat 1596 (22 September 1539 CE), at the age of 70 years, 5 months, and 7 days. This further suggests that he was born in the month of Baisakh (April), not Kartik (November).


As late as in 1815, during the reign of Ranjit Singh, the fair commemorating Nanak's birthday at Nankana Sahib was held in April.[11] However, subsequently, Nanak's birth anniversary – the Gurpurb – came to be celebrated on the full moon day of the Kartik month in November. The earliest record of such a celebration in Nanakana Sahib is from 1868 CE.[13]

 The only Janam Sakhi that supports the Kartik birth tradition is that of Bhai Bala, which states that Nanak was born on the full moon day of the Kartik month. Bhai Bala is said to have obtained Nanak's horoscope from Nanak's uncle Lalu, and according to this document, Nanak was born on a date corresponding to 20 October 1469 CE. However, Bhai Bala's Janam Sakhi was actually written by members of the Handali sect, and attempts to depict the founder of their sect as superior to Nanak. According to a superstition prevailing in contemporary northern India, a child born in the Kartik month was believed to be weak and unlucky, which explains why the work states that Nanak was born in that month.

There may be several reasons for the adoption of the Kartik birth date by the Sikh community. It may have been the date of Nanak's enlightenment or "spiritual birth" in 1496, as suggested by Dabestan-e Mazaheb. Bhai Gurdas, writing on a full-moon-day of the Kartik month several decades after Nanak's death, mentions that Nanak had "obtained omniscience" on the same day, and it was now the author's turn to "get divine light".[15] According to Max Arthur Macauliffe, in the 19th century, a Hindu fair held on Kartik Purnima at Ram Tirath in Amritsar attracted a large number of Sikhs. The Sikh religious leader Giani Sant Singh did not like this, and therefore, started a fair at the Sikh shrine of Golden Temple on the same day, presenting it as the birth anniversary celebration of Guru Nanak.

 Macauliffe also notes that Baisakh (March–April) already saw a number of important festivals – such as Holi, Rama Navami, and Baisakhi, and the people would be busy in agricultural activities after the harvest festival of Baisakhi. Therefore, holding Nanak's birth anniversary celebrations immediately after Baisakhi would have resulted in thin attendance, and therefore, smaller donations for the Sikh shrines. On the other hand, by the Kartik full moon day, the major Hindu festival of Diwali was already over, and the peasants – who had surplus cash from crop sales – were able to donate generously.