Sikh community in the city celebrated conferment
of title of “Guru” on Sri Guru Granth Sahib on Sunday, as it is celebrated
every year on October 20. The celebrations were seen in all the Gurudwaras in
the city and being Sunday, the gatherings were large.
Guru Granth Sahib was compiled by the fifth
Sikh Guru, Sri Guru Arjan Dev in 1604. Remembering the Guru for penning that is
considered the Supreme Spiritual Authority and Head of the Sikh religion,
rather than any living person, community members recalled the lessons and sang
hymns in evening gatherings.
“Guru Granth Sahib only scripture of its
kind which not only contains the works of its own religious founders but also
writings of people from other faiths,” said Narender Singh, coordinator at LIG
Gurudwara.
He elaborated how Arjan Dev collected and
edited the compositions of his predecessor Gurus including his own and the
compositions of Hindu and Muslim saints, giving equal status to men of God in
creating the granth.
“In 1708 Sri Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth
and last final living Guru, proclaimed the Granth as the Guru, and since then
Oct 20 is an essential day for every Sikh,” president of Guru Singh Sabha
Manjeet Singh Bhatia said. He added that the granth comprising of 1430 pages of
hymns emphasises the integration of the spiritual and temporal life, not the
negation of it.
“In Sikhism the word Guru is used only for
ten prophet-preceptors, Sri Guru Nanak to Sri Guru Gobind Singh and for none
other,” Rupinder Gill, a community member, said.
She explained that in every Sikh function,
be it birth, death, marriage or initiation ceremony, or the congregation in
mindful prayer, requires the presence of the granth. “The granth, which is our
Guru, presides like a king sitting on a throne,” Rupinder said.