Gurgaddi Purab of Sri Guru Harkrishan Sahib Ji: the youngest Guru

The Gurgaddi Purab of Sri Guru Harkrishan Sahib Ji remembers the day in 1661 when Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib Ji, shortly before his Joti Jot at Kiratpur Sahib, entrusted the Guruship to his younger son, then about five years old. Sri Guru Harkrishan Sahib Ji became the eighth Guru and the youngest.

Why Ram Rai was passed over

Guru Har Rai Sahib Ji had sent his elder son, Ram Rai, to the court of the emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi to answer questions about the Guru's bani. Ram Rai impressed the court with miracles, and when asked about a line of Guru Nanak Dev Ji's bani that the emperor's advisers said insulted Muslims, he changed a word to please them. When this reached the Guru, he refused ever to see Ram Rai again, saying that the Guru's bani could not be altered for anyone. The Guruship went instead to the child whose devotion and composure the Guru trusted.

The Bal Guru

Ram Rai disputed the succession and asked Aurangzeb to intervene, which is why the young Guru was later summoned to Delhi. There Sri Guru Harkrishan Sahib Ji served the sick through an epidemic of smallpox and cholera before falling ill himself. His Guruship lasted under three years, yet he is remembered in every Ardas, which asks that the sorrows of all who remember him be taken away. Ram Rai later settled in the hills, where the town of Dehradun grew around his dera.

How the day is observed

The day is marked with kirtan and Ardas, especially at Kiratpur Sahib and at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in Delhi. It is often a day when children take part in the kirtan and the Ardas.