Bengaluru: Come Monday, for more than 15,000 Sikhs in the state would throng Ulsoor. For, the Guru Singh Sabha Gurudwara, city’s oldest and biggest gurudwara, will be decked up to celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism.
Legends have it that the Guru Nanak Gurupurab or the Guru Nanak Jayanthi, the birth of the first of the 10 Sikh Gurus, is celebrated on Karthik Poornima, the full moon day in the month of ‘Karthik maasa’. In the Gregorian calendar, however, the celebration usually falls in the month of November.
S. Parab Joth Singh Bali, president of Guru Singh Sabha Gurudwara, said on this day followers chant hymns from Sikh scriptures, starting around 4 am. “The day starts with ‘Prabhat Pheris’, which are early morning processions, and ‘kirtanas’ are chanted till 1 am in the midnight. It is believed that Guru Nanak was born at 1:20 am and hence the celebrations continue post midnight. All through the day, hymns from Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs, is chanted and lectures on the life of Guru Nanak are delivered,” he said.
