Guru Nanak Jayanti

Guru Nanak Jayanti or Gurpurab is celebrated with religious fervour to mark the birth of the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak, who laid the foundation of Sikhism. 

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2020

Key-Points

Guru Nanak (1469 – 1539), also referred to as Baba Nanak was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus.

His birth is celebrated worldwide as Guru Nanak Gurpurab on Katak Pooranmashi (‘full-moon of the Katak’)

Journeys (Udasis): During first quarter of the 16th century, Nanak went on long udasiya (‘journeys’) for spiritual pursuits. He visited several places in “nau-khand” (‘the nine regions of the earth’), presumably the major Hindu and Muslim pilgrimage centres.

He preached the message of ik onkar (‘one God’), who dwells in every one of his creations and constitutes the eternal Truth. With this concept, he would set up a unique spiritual, social, and political platform based on equality, fraternal love, goodness, and virtue.

Nanak’s words are registered in the form of 974 poetic hymns, or shabda, in the holy text of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, with some of the major prayers being the Japji Sahib; the Asa di Var; and the Sidh Gohst.