Chetਚੇਤ

Chet (ਚੇਤ) is the first month of the Punjabi year, the opening month of the Desi Mahine and of the Nanakshahi calendar. It has 31 days and runs from 14 March to 13 April. Its first day, 1 Chet, is the Nanakshahi New Year, and the month carries the great spring gathering of Hola Mohalla. In Punjab, Chet is the height of spring: the mustard is harvested, the wheat stands golden and heavy, and the whole countryside waits on the harvest.

Chet in the calendar

Chet is month 1 of 12. Its sangrand, the first day of the month, falls on 14 March, and because the Nanakshahi calendar is a fixed solar calendar, that date never changes. The month before Chet is Phaggan, the last month of the old year, and the month after it is Vaisakh. The year that begins on 1 Chet is counted from the birth of Guru Nanak Dev Ji in 1469: the year beginning 14 March 2026 is Nanakshahi 558. Before the Nanakshahi calendar, Chet's dates were counted in the Bikrami calendar, whose lunar reckoning let festival dates drift against the seasons.

Spring in Punjab

Chet is Basant, spring, at its fullest. The cold of Poh and Magh has gone, the days are warm and lengthening, and the fields change colour week by week: the green wheat turns pale gold, and the last of the mustard flowers fade as the pods fill. Mango trees flower, the koel calls, and the air carries the dust and sweetness of a countryside ripening all at once. Guru Nanak Dev Ji opens his Barah Maha with exactly this scene, woods in bloom and bees humming over the flowers.

Farming in Chet

For the farmer, Chet is a month of watching and finishing. The sarson (mustard) crop, sown in autumn, is cut in Chet, and its oilseeds are threshed and sold. The wheat, Punjab's great rabi crop, fills out and ripens, and the farmer judges the weather anxiously, because unseasonal rain or hail in Chet can flatten a crop weeks from harvest. Fodder is gathered, harvest labour is arranged, and by the month's end the first combines and sickles are ready for Vaisakh.

Festivals and Gurpurabs in Chet

The month opens with the year itself: 1 Chet is the Nanakshahi New Year. In the original fixed calendar, 1 Chet is also Hola Mohalla, the festival of martial display founded in the time of Guru Gobind Singh Ji and centred on Anandpur Sahib; the SGPC's 2003 compromise kept Hola Mohalla on its traditional reckoning, so its great gathering at Anandpur Sahib is still held around Holi in March. The fixed calendar also places the Gurgaddi of Guru Har Rai Ji, the day he became the seventh Guru, on 1 Chet. In the SGPC's published calendar for Nanakshahi 558, Chet carries several more gurpurabs, including the joti jot of Guru Angad Dev Ji and Guru Hargobind Ji, the gurgaddi of Guru Amar Das Ji, and the parkash of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji.

Chet in the Barah Maha

Both Barah Maha compositions begin with Chet. Guru Nanak Dev Ji, in Raag Tukhari, pictures spring in full bloom and the soul-bride still waiting: ਚੇਤੁ ਬਸੰਤੁ ਭਲਾ ਭਵਰ ਸੁਹਾਵੜੇ ੥ ਬਨ ਫੂਲੇ ਮੰਝ ਬਾਰਿ ਮੈ ਪਿਰੁ ਘਰਿ ਬਾਹੁੜੈ ੥ In Chet the lovely spring has come, and the bumblebees are charming; the woods are in bloom before my door: if only my Beloved would return home. The beauty of the month only sharpens her separation. Guru Arjan Dev Ji, in Raag Majh, answers with hope: ਚੇਤਿ ਗੋਵਿੰਦੁ ਅਰਾਧੀਐ ਹੋਵੈ ਅਨੰਦੁ ਘਣਾ ੥ In Chet, meditate on the Lord of the Universe, and deep and profound joy arises. For Guru Arjan Dev Ji, the one who finds God in the company of the saints finds that Chet itself becomes bliss.

When does Chet start?

Chet starts on 14 March. Its first day, 1 Chet, is sangrand, and it is also the first day of the Nanakshahi year. The month has 31 days and ends on 13 April, when Vaisakh begins.

What is celebrated in Chet?

The Nanakshahi New Year is celebrated on 1 Chet, and Hola Mohalla, the festival of the Khalsa's martial tradition centred on Anandpur Sahib, belongs to Chet: the fixed Nanakshahi calendar places it on 1 Chet, while the traditional observance is held around Holi in March. Gurdwaras mark the month's sangrand with special services, and many read out the Barah Maha verse for Chet.