Sikhs celebrating Guru Nanak Jayanti
New Delhi: For Hindus, especially Sikhs, today is an auspicious day as it is the day of birth of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikh. It falls on Kartik Purnima.
It’s the day when god incarnated himself as “Matsya Avatar” with the aim to save Vavaswata, the seventh Manu. The day is celebrated across the world as Guru Nanak Jayanti or Parkash Utsav.
The anniversaries of Sikh guru’s are known as Gurpurabs and it starts with “Prabhat Pheris” – early morning procession which start from the gurdwaras (Sikh temples) at dawn.
Celebrations last for three days which include, the Akhand Path (a forty-eight-hour non-stop reading of the Guru Granth Sahib). The holy book is read continuously from the beginning to end without a break.
Free sweets and community lunches also known as langar are offered to everyone irrespective of caste, creed, colour or race.
A grand fair and festival is held at Guru Nanak’s birth place where thousands of Sikhs congregate from India and abroad. Guru Nanak was born on 14 April, 1469 AD, at Talwandi, about 40 km from Lahore.
Since the day happens to be Kartik Purnima, it is also known as “Tripuri Purnima.” Hundreds of devotees take a holy dip in the Brahma Sarovar at Kurukshetra on this day.
Sikhs celebrating Guru Nanak Jayanti was first posted on November 2, 2009 at 9:14 pm.
©2009 “Pakistan News“.
