Bhadonਭਾਦੋਂ

Bhadon (ਭਾਦੋਂ) is the sixth month of the Nanakshahi calendar and of the traditional Punjabi desi year, one of the twelve Desi Mahine. It runs for 30 days, from its sangrand on 16 August to 14 September, in the late monsoon, when the rains are at their heaviest and the land is at its greenest. Bhadon holds one of the most loved days of the Sikh year: Pehla Parkash, the anniversary of the day in 1604 when the Adi Granth was first installed in Sri Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar. It follows Sawan and is followed by Assu.

The month and its dates

Bhadon has 30 days: 1 Bhadon is 16 August and the month ends on 14 September in the fixed Nanakshahi calendar. It is the first of the seven 30-day months that complete the Nanakshahi year. The name is the Punjabi form of the old Indic month name Bhadrapada. In the SGPC's amended calendar the month still begins in the middle of August, though its sangrand can fall a day later in some years: in 2026 the traditional sangrand of Bhadon was kept on 17 August.

Season in Punjab

Bhadon is the tail of the monsoon, and in many years its wettest stretch. Rain remains frequent, the humidity stands at its peak, rivers and canals run high, and low-lying fields can sit under water for days. Guru Nanak Dev Ji's Bhadon verse is a portrait of exactly this world: lakes and fields overflowing, rain falling through the dark night, frogs and peacocks calling, snakes on the move and mosquitoes everywhere. Towards the end of the month the rains begin to withdraw, the monsoon being active over Punjab into the middle of September, the air clears a little, and the countryside turns toward the harvest season of Assu.

The farming cycle in Bhadon

The paddy planted in Harh and Sawan now fills out its grain in Bhadon, standing deep green in its flooded fields. Farmers drain off excess water where the crop is drowning, watch for the pests that thrive in the humidity, and finish the last of the late transplanting. Cotton bolls swell, and in early fields the first picking can begin towards the end of the month. With the kharif crop made or nearly made, attention begins to turn to the rabi season ahead: seed and fertiliser, and the state of the fields once the rains have passed.

Festivals and Gurpurabs in Bhadon

Bhadon's crowning day is Pehla Parkash, the first installation of the Sikh scripture. In 1604 Guru Arjan Dev Ji completed the compilation of the Adi Granth, with Bhai Gurdas Ji as his scribe, and had the volume installed in Sri Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar. Sikh tradition remembers Baba Buddha Ji carrying the Granth on his head in procession and serving as its first Granthi. The original Nanakshahi calendar marks the completion of the scripture's writing on 15 Bhadon, 30 August, and Pehla Parkash itself on 17 Bhadon, which corresponds to 1 September. In the SGPC's current calendar the day is kept by the traditional date instead, and in 2026 Pehla Parkash was observed on 12 September. Gurdwaras mark the day with nagar kirtan processions, kirtan and the singing of the hymns of the Granth itself.

Bhadon in the Barah Maha

Guru Arjan Dev Ji's Majh verse for Bhadon is the sternest of the rainy months: ਭਾਦੁਇ ਭਰਮਿ ਭੁਲਾਣੀਆ ਦੂਜੈ ਲਗਾ ਹੇਤੁ ੥, which means: in Bhadon, she is deluded by doubt, because her love is fixed on duality. She may put on thousands of ornaments, he says, but they are of no use at all; as she sows in the field of karma, so she reaps; and when the body perishes, the very loved ones she clings to move on in an instant. Yet the verse ends in shelter, not despair: Nanak seeks the sanctuary of the Lord, whose feet are the boat that carries across, and those who love the Guru, the Protector and Saviour, are not thrown into hell in Bhadon.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji, in Raag Tukhari, shows the same month from inside the bride's heart. The young woman, full of youth, is confused by doubt, and later she regrets it. All around her the rainy season is celebrating: the waters of land and lake overflow, rain drums through the dark night, frogs and peacocks call out, the rainbird cries beloved, beloved, snakes slip through the wet grass and the ponds brim over. Surrounded by all this abundance she still asks how there can be any peace without the Lord, and she resolves the question herself: I will go and ask my Guru, and wherever God is, there I will go.

When is Pehla Parkash?

Pehla Parkash, the first installation of the Adi Granth at Sri Harmandir Sahib in 1604, is placed on 17 Bhadon, 1 September, in the original Nanakshahi calendar. The SGPC's current calendar keeps it by the traditional date; in 2026 it was observed on 12 September.

How many days are there in Bhadon?

Bhadon has 30 days. It is the first of the seven 30-day months of the Nanakshahi year, Bhadon, Assu, Kattak, Maghar, Poh, Magh and Phaggan.

What is the weather like in Bhadon?

Bhadon is late-monsoon weather: frequent heavy rain, the year's highest humidity, full rivers and green, waterlogged fields. The rains begin to withdraw in the middle of September as Assu approaches.