Guru Nanak Dev Ji Prakash Purab: the story, the date and how it is celebrated

The Prakash Purab of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, often called Guru Nanak Jayanti or simply Gurpurab, is the most widely celebrated day in the Sikh calendar. It marks the birth in 1469 of the founder of the Sikh faith, and it falls on the full moon of the month of Katak, which is why its date moves from year to year.

Life of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji

Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born at Rai Bhoi di Talwandi, now Nankana Sahib in Pakistan, to Mehta Kalu Ji and Mata Tripta Ji. His elder sister, Bebe Nanaki Ji, was the first to recognise who he was. As a young man working at Sultanpur Lodhi he went into the river Vein and was not seen for three days; when he came out, his first words were that there is no Hindu and no Muslim, only people of the one Creator.

For more than two decades he travelled on long journeys, the udasis, with his companion Bhai Mardana Ji, reaching Assam, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Mecca and Baghdad. He taught devotion to the one Creator, honest work (kirat karni), sharing with others (vand chhakna) and remembering the Name (naam japna), and he rejected caste, empty ritual and the low status given to women. He spent his last years at Kartarpur on the Ravi, farming the land and leading the sangat in kirtan and langar.

How Gurpurab is celebrated

Celebrations begin days earlier with Prabhat Pheris, groups singing through the streets before dawn. An Akhand Paath, a continuous reading of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, is completed on the morning of the day. Nagar Kirtans fill the streets, gurdwaras are lit, and langar is served to everyone who comes. At Nankana Sahib, sangats from across the world gather at Gurdwara Janam Asthan. Many families keep the day by rising at Amrit Vela and doing their Nitnem together.