Guru Arjan Dev Ji Prakash Purab: Harmandir Sahib, the Adi Granth and Sukhmani Sahib

The Prakash Purab of Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji celebrates the birth in 1563 of the fifth Sikh Guru at Goindwal Sahib. He was the youngest son of Sri Guru Ram Das Ji and Bibi Bhani Ji, and the grandson of Sri Guru Amar Das Ji, who tradition says foresaw that the child would carry the bani across the world.

What Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji built

Guru Arjan Dev Ji became Guru at eighteen. He completed the sarovar at Amritsar and built Sri Harmandir Sahib in its centre, setting it lower than the land around it and giving it a door on every side, as a sign that it was open to everyone. He founded the towns of Tarn Taran and Kartarpur near Jalandhar, set up a home for people with leprosy, and asked Sikhs to give dasvandh, a tenth of their earnings, for the common good.

His greatest work was the Adi Granth. With Bhai Gurdas Ji as scribe, he gathered the bani of the first four Gurus, added his own, and included the compositions of Bhagats and saints of many castes and faiths, among them Kabir, Ravidas, Namdev and Sheikh Farid. It was installed at Sri Harmandir Sahib in 1604. His own bani, more than two thousand shabads, is the largest contribution to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and includes Sukhmani Sahib, the Psalm of Peace.

How the day is observed

Gurdwaras hold Akhand Paath, kirtan and langar, and many Sikhs recite Sukhmani Sahib on the day, alone or together with their sangat. His life is remembered twice in the year: on this day with joy, and in summer at his Shaheedi Purab, when Sikhs serve cold water to passers-by.