Joti Jot Purab of Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji: thirteen years at Khadur Sahib

The Joti Jot Purab of Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji remembers the day in 1552 when the second Sikh Guru completed his life on earth at Khadur Sahib, near the river Beas, having entrusted the Guruship to Sri Guru Amar Das Ji. The SGPC's Nanakshahi calendar keeps the anniversary on a fixed solar date.

What he left the Sikhs

In about thirteen years as Guru, Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji gave the young community much of its early shape. He developed and spread the Gurmukhi script, so that the bani could be written and read by ordinary people, and opened schools where children learned to read it. He gathered the hymns of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, and tradition credits him with collecting the accounts of the first Guru's life that grew into the Janamsakhis. He encouraged wrestling and physical fitness, and kept an akhara at Khadur Sahib for the young men of the village.

Mata Khivi Ji, his wife, ran the langar at Khadur Sahib, where everyone who came was fed, and she is the only woman named in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, in a Vaar by Bhai Satta and Bhai Balvand that praises the rich kheer of her kitchen. Under her care the langar became a daily feature of Sikh life.

Choosing his successor

Like Guru Nanak Dev Ji before him, Guru Angad Dev Ji passed over his own sons, Dasu and Datu, and chose the elderly Amar Das Ji, who had served him for twelve years.

How the day is observed

Sangats gather for kirtan and Ardas at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Khadur Sahib, and in gurdwaras everywhere, to remember his life of service.