Bara Maha

Bara Maha means “twelve months,” and is a form of folk poetry in which the emotions and yearnings of the human heart are expressed in terms of the changing moods of nature over the twelve months of the year.

Guru Nanak and Guru Arjan each composed a Bara Maha in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, the living Guru of the Sikhs.

In this form of poetry, the mood of nature in each particular month (of the Indian calendar) depicts the inner agony of the human heart which in most cases is described as a woman separated from her spouse or lover. In other words, the separated woman finds her own agony reflected in the different faces of nature.

The tradition of Bara Maha poetry is traceable to classical time periods of history. In Sanskrit, the Bara Maha had the form of “shad ritu varnan,” i.e. description of the six seasons (shad = six; ritu = season; varnan = description), the most well-known example being Kalidasa’s “Ritu Sanhar.”

This expression was commonly used to depict the moods of the love stricken woman in separation, and it became an established style in medieval Indian poetry. Modern languages of northern India claim several distinguished models.

Mahesh Kumar Khatri

Guru Nanak’s Bara Maha

“The twelve months, the seasons, the weeks, the days, the hours, the minutes and the seconds are all sublime, when the True Lord comes and meets her with natural ease.

God, my Beloved, has met me, and my affairs are all resolved. The Creator Lord knows all ways and means.”

Guru Nanak Dev JiSiri Guru Granth Sahib Ji (Ang 1109)

Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru, composed the first Barah Maha in the measure (Raag) Tukhari. This appears in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib on Ang (pages) 1107 to 1110.

This is not only the oldest composition belonging to this genre, but also the first in which the theme of love poetry has been transformed into that of spiritual metaphor. Guru Nanak portrays the human soul as the protagonist which suffers in the cesspool of transmigration as a result of its separation from the Divine.

Guru Nanak’s Bara Maha stands out for its poetic beauty and philosophical significance. The metaphor of a young bride ardently searching for her Divine Bridegroom through the imagery of the changing reality of the twelve months of the year is well-known among Sikhs.

 

Guru Arjan’s Bara Maha

Guru Arjan, the fifth Sikh Guru, also composed a beautiful Bara Maha, which follows Guru Nanak’s composition.

His calendar poem is composed inthe Raag (measure) Majh and appears in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib on Ang (pages) 133 -136.

Guru Arjan composed this version of Bara Maha at the request of the Sikh Sangat, who approached Guru Arjan and said that Guru Nanak Sahib’s composition in Raag Tukhri was difficult for them to understand.

Like Guru Nanak’s Bara Maha, the theme of this composition is the human soul’s separation from the Divine and the longing and quest for Divine union.

Each month of the Bara Maha of both Sikh Gurus are often read during Sikh Gurdwara services so that Sikhs may reflect on Divine love in each changing season.

 

Listen to the Bara Maha

Bara Maha – by Professor Satnam Singh Sethi: 

 

Read the Bara Maha for Each Month of the Year! 

~Resources: “Bara Mahai (SikhiWiki), “Bara Maha- Month by Month” (Sikh Dharma International) and “Bara Maha” on SikhNet Play.