Guide
How Bikram Sambat Works
Bikram Sambat is Nepal's official calendar. It is solar, it has twelve months, and almost every other assumption you carry over from the Gregorian calendar will be wrong.
On this page
Why the years are so far apart
Bikram Sambat counts from a starting point roughly 57 years before the Common Era, which puts it about 56 years and 8 months ahead of the Gregorian calendar today.
The gap is not a clean 57 because the two years begin at different points. Bikram Sambat starts in mid-April; the Gregorian year starts in January. So for the first part of a Gregorian year the difference is 57, and after mid-April it becomes 56.
Why months change length
Gregorian month lengths are fixed by rule. Bikram Sambat month lengths are determined by the sun's position, and they vary: a month can have 29, 30, 31 or 32 days, and the same month has different lengths in different years.
This is why no formula can convert between the two calendars. Accurate converters — including this one — work from a published table of month lengths, because there is nothing to calculate.
The twelve months
| # | Nepali | English | Roughly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | बैशाख | Baisakh | mid-Apr to mid-May |
| 2 | जेठ | Jestha | mid-May to mid-Jun |
| 3 | असार | Ashadh | mid-Jun to mid-Jul |
| 4 | साउन | Shrawan | mid-Jul to mid-Aug |
| 5 | भदौ | Bhadra | mid-Aug to mid-Sep |
| 6 | असोज | Ashwin | mid-Sep to mid-Oct |
| 7 | कार्तिक | Kartik | mid-Oct to mid-Nov |
| 8 | मंसिर | Mangsir | mid-Nov to mid-Dec |
| 9 | पुष | Poush | mid-Dec to mid-Jan |
| 10 | माघ | Magh | mid-Jan to mid-Feb |
| 11 | फागुन | Falgun | mid-Feb to mid-Mar |
| 12 | चैत | Chaitra | mid-Mar to mid-Apr |
Where the difference bites
- Birth dates. Nepali citizenship certificates carry a BS date. Almost every international form wants the Gregorian equivalent, and getting it wrong on a visa application causes real delays.
- Birthdays never line up. Because the calendars drift against each other, a BS birthday falls on a different Gregorian date each year.
- Deadlines. A Nepali contract dated in BS and an international one dated in AD can appear to conflict when they do not.
- Fiscal years. Nepal's fiscal year runs from Shrawan 1, in mid-July, not from January or April.
Festivals are a third system
Dashain, Tihar, Chhath and most other major festivals are not fixed to Bikram Sambat dates at all. They follow a lunar reckoning, which is why they move within the BS calendar as well as the Gregorian one.
The calendar pages on this site mark only the observances that fall on fixed BS dates, such as New Year and Constitution Day. For lunar festivals, check a published patro.
Frequently asked questions
What year is it in Nepal right now?
Add roughly 56 years and 8 months to the Gregorian date, or use the date converter for the exact answer including the weekday.
Is Bikram Sambat the same as the Hindu calendar?
It shares the same tradition, but Nepal's version is solar and officially standardised, whereas several Indian regional calendars using the same era are lunisolar. The dates do not always match.
Does Nepal use the Gregorian calendar at all?
For international business, aviation and dealings with foreign institutions, yes. Domestic government business, education and daily life run on Bikram Sambat.