Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji Prakash Purab: the sixth Guru of Miri and Piri

The Prakash Purab of Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji celebrates the birth in 1595 of the sixth Sikh Guru at Guru Ki Wadali, a village near Amritsar. He was the only son of Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji and Mata Ganga Ji, and his birth is remembered as an answer to his parents' long prayers, blessed by Baba Budha Ji.

A childhood under threat

Sikh tradition remembers several attempts on the life of the young Hargobind, set in motion by his uncle Prithi Chand, who resented that the Guruship had passed to his younger brother. A nurse sent with poison and a snake in the house are among the stories told; the child came through each one. He was eleven when his father was martyred in Lahore in 1606.

The Guru of Miri and Piri

At his Gurgaddi he wore two swords, one for Miri, worldly authority, and one for Piri, spiritual authority, and asked Sikhs to bring horses and weapons as offerings. He built Sri Akal Takht Sahib facing Sri Harmandir Sahib, raised a body of armed Sikhs, and led them in battles of defence against Mughal forces. Held for a time in the fort of Gwalior, he refused to leave unless the fifty-two kings imprisoned with him were also freed, which Sikhs remember at Bandi Chhor Divas. In his last years he founded Kiratpur Sahib on the Sutlej. His Guruship, about thirty-eight years, was the longest of the ten Gurus.

How the day is observed

Sangats gather at Gurdwara Guru Ki Wadali near Amritsar and at gurdwaras everywhere for Akhand Paath, kirtan and langar. Many gurdwaras hold katha on Miri and Piri, the balance between devotion and standing up for what is right.