What is Gurpurb

A Gurpurab (ਗੁਰਪੁਰਬ) in Sikh tradition is a celebration of an anniversary of a Sikh Guru's birth marked by the holding of a festival. Gurpurab is the most important and sacred festival of the Sikh community

The festival begins with ‘Akhand Path’ prior to Gurpurab. The gurdwaras recite 48-hour long non-stop verses from the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs. This reading, called Akhand Path, must be without interruption; the relay of reciters who take turns at saying the Scripture ensures that no break occurs. Followers organise religious processions carrying the Sikh flag, known as the Nishan Sahib and the Palki (Palanquin) of Guru Granth Sahib to spread the guru’s message. This procession is headed by the Panj Pyaras (Five Beloved Ones).

The parade includes symbolic and decorative tableaux. The followers practise ‘Gatka’ (Sikh martial arts), highlighting the valour and skills of the community. People sing devotional hymns (Asa-di-Var) and organise Prabhat Pheris (ਪ੍ਰਭਾਤ ਫੇਰੀ) at dawn in gurdwaras. After the morning hymns, gurdwaras organise ‘Katha’ session and the rituals end with ‘Kritan’, singing songs in praise of the guru. The festival is also followed with ‘Langar’, where followers offer ‘Seva’ to the general public.

Gurpurabs are a mixture of the religious and the festive, the devotional and the spectacular, the personal and the communal. Over the years a standardized pattern has evolved, but this pattern has no special sanctity, and local groups may invent their own variations.

Special assemblies are held in gurdwaras and discourses given on the lives and teachings of the gurus. Sikhs march in processions through towns and cities chanting the holy hymns. Special langars, or community meals, are held for the participants. Partaking of a common meal on these occasions is reckoned an act of merit. Programmes include initiating those not already initiated into the order of the Khalsa in the manner in which Guru Gobind Singh had done in 1699. Sikh journals and newspapers bring out their special numbers to mark the event. Public functions are held, besides the more literary and academic ones in schools and colleges. Gurpurbs commemorating birth anniversaries may include illuminations in gurdwaras and in residential houses. Friends and families exchange greetings. Printed cards like those used to commemorate holidays in the West are also coming into vogue.