Sirjana Divas of Sri Akal Takht Sahib: the Throne of the Timeless

The Sirjana Divas of Sri Akal Takht Sahib remembers the founding in 1606 of the Throne of the Timeless, facing Sri Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. It is the first and highest of the five Takhts, the seats of authority of the Sikh Panth.

The Akal Bunga

After the shaheedi of Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji, the young Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji built a raised platform across the courtyard from Sri Harmandir Sahib. Tradition remembers that Baba Budha Ji and Bhai Gurdas Ji built it with their own hands, with no mason allowed to touch it but the Guru and his Sikhs. It was raised higher than the throne of any emperor, about twelve feet, a statement that the Sikhs answered to the Timeless One alone. It was called the Akal Bunga.

Miri beside Piri

From the Akal Bunga the Guru held court, received the sangat, heard disputes and issued his commands, while Sri Harmandir Sahib remained the place of the Word and of kirtan. He watched wrestling and martial exercises in the courtyard, and in the evening ballads of heroism were sung there, the beginning of the dhadi tradition. The two buildings, facing each other, are a picture of Miri and Piri together.

The voice of the Panth

In the eighteenth century the Sarbat Khalsa gathered at Sri Akal Takht Sahib to take decisions as the Guru Panth, and it remains the place from which hukamnamas to the whole Panth are issued. The building has been destroyed and rebuilt several times, most recently after June 1984.

How the day is observed

Sangats gather for Akhand Paath, kirtan and Ardas, and the Jathedar addresses the Panth.