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Sikhism Religion: Gurpurb

Decent Essays
Open Document
Divya Nagendran
Professor Barbara J. Melaas-Swanson
LSFY 102-32
31 January 2011
Sikhism Religion: Gurpurb
A festival is a celebration of life. Festival is harmonious, rich, varied and colorful. A festival is a celebration which breaks the tedium of life. They bring peace and joy to the multitudes. Festival provide as symbol to the cultural, social and domestic life of the people. There are different kinds of festivals celebrated around this world. There are festivals based on legends or persons believed to be blessed with supernatural powers. It is a belief that by praying legends you get the gratuity of wishes and avoiding off troubles. Another kind of festival celebrated is Religious festivals. Religious festivals are celebrated with…show more content…
Guru Nanak was followed by a succession of nine human Gurus: Guru Angad, Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjan Dev, Guru Hargoind, Guru Har Rai, Guru Harkrishnan, Guru Teg Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh (Khalsa 5).
The festival Gurpurb of usually comes in the month of November, but the date varies from year to year, based on the traditional dates of the Indian calendar (Kalsi 94). Sikhs celebrate Gurpurb with great enthusiasm, reinforcing the Sikh commitment to community service and devotion to God (Hoffman 77). Gurpurb is a three day festival. The first two days of Gurpurb, Sikhs do akhand path or out loud recitation of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib (the sacred book of the Sikhs). The Akhand Path is a forty-eight hour non-stop reading session of the holy book, Siri Guru Granth Sahib. The Sikhs read the Siri Guru Granth Sahib non-stop from beginning to the end.
The Akhand Path ends on the third day of the Gurpurb. The Siri Guru Granth Sahib is beautifully decorated with flowers and is then taken out by five armed guards in a procession on a float. Five armed guards who are called the panj pi-aaray or the five beloved ones lead the procession. Panj pi-aaray is known as the fived beloved ones. Five armed guards displa[y] the Sikh flag escort a flower-decorated float carrying the Guru Granth Sahib through the streets (Hoffman 77). Then local bands play religious music and marching school children form a special part of parades organized by different gurdwara
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