Guru Nanak’s 468th death anniversary on 22nd

LAHORE: The 468th death anniversary of the Sikh religion’s founder, Baba Guru Nanak Dev, will be observed from September 20 to 22 at Gurdawara Kartarpur Sahib, Narowal.

According to Sikh religion, Guru Nanak was the divine light that came into the world when humanity was sunk in falsehood, superstition, ignorance and self-indulgence. Nanak emerged as the knowledge in the age of vice (Kali Yuga) to declare that God was one and his name was the Ultimate Truth. He taught that the earth was a place where man came to become a complete person.

Sources in Shiromani Gurdawara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) told Daily Times that over 1,000 Sikh pilgrims from India had applied for the visa and that their applications had been processed. They said 500 visas had been issued to the SGPC, 300 to Delhi Gurdawara Management Committee and a few to other organisations, including the Bhai Mardana Society and the Kar Sewa Committee. They said all applicants had been issued visa by the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi without any difficulty from.

The celebrations will start on September 20 with Akand Part Sahib (reading from the Holy Guru Granth Sahib) and will end on September 22 with the distribution of sweets among the pilgrims.

Federal government sources said that necessary arrangements had already been made to facilitate the visiting Sikh pilgrims from around the world, including the UK, Canada, the US, Malaysia and Dubai. They said Sikh pilgrims would also visit other gurdawaras, including Sucha Sauda, Panja Sahib, Dera Sahib and others.

Guru Nanak was born in 1469 in Talwandi, a village in Sheikhupura, now known as Nankana Sahib. As a boy he learnt regional languages, Persian and Arabic. The year 1496 is considered the year of his enlightenment when he began his mission.

Sikh tradition states that at the age of thirty, Guru Nanak went missing, and was presumed to have drowned after going for morning bath to a local stream called the Kali Bein or the Humber Bain. Three days later he reappeared and gave the same answer to any question posed to him, “There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim” (na koi Hindu na koi Musalman). It was from this moment that Guru Nanak began spreading the teachings which was the beginning of Sikhism. His primary focus was man and his destiny and he stressed loving one’s neighbour as one’s own self.

Guru Nanak began his missionary tours with a low caste Muslim, Mardana, and rendered help to the weak and spread his message against caste system and idol worship. When slavery was common both in the West and the East, he preached against discrimination and prejudices based on caste, colour or creed. He said, “See the brotherhood of all mankind as the highest order of Yogis; conquer your own mind, and conquer the world.” He mixed up with the people of low caste, which was unheard at that time. He spent twenty-five years proclaiming his message and many of his hymns were written during this time. His basic message was remember God, share with the needy and earn livelihood by honest means.

Guru Nanak died at Katarpur Sahib, a village between Shakargarh and Narowal in 1539, where a Gurdawara was built.

Source: Daily Times