Worldview Calendar: Sikhi

CONFERRING OF GURUSHIP ON THE GURU GRANTH SAHIB BY GURU GOBIND SINGH 1708 CE

20 October

20th October 2026

Sikhi

On October 6th, 1708, the day before his death, Guru Gobind Singh (the Sikhs’ tenth Guru, 1666 -1708) declared that, instead of having another human Guru, from now on Sikhs would regard the scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, as their Guru.

The composition known as the Adi Granth contains the bani (teaching) of six of the Gurus of the Sikh faith, along with some of the writings of certain Muslim fakirs and Hindu saints. It was compiled in this form in the year 1604, incorporating at a later stage the addition of a sacred composition dictated by Guru Tegh Bahadur.

The first copy of the Guru Granth Sahib was installed in the Harimandir (the Golden Temple in Amritsar) in 1604. The fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev, compiled the book, which was written down by his uncle, Bhai Gurdas, and printed in Punjabi. The second (enlarged) edition was completed in 1705 by the tenth Guru, Gobind Singh. He added the hymns of his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, the Ninth Guru, and a couplet of his own to the volume created a century earlier. Since then, the authorised version has been transcribed and printed a number of times. Its veneration is an article of faith with all Sikhs.

It is the only scripture of its kind which contains the songs, hymns and utterances of a wide variety of saints, sages and bards from differing traditions. Much of the volume carries the compositions of Hindu bhaktas, Muslim divines, Sufi poets and other God-intoxicated souls, whose hymns and couplets, while rendered in their own idiom, find a ready correspondence in the songs of the Sikh Gurus. Guru Arjan’s purpse was to to affirm the fundamental unity of all religions, and the unitary character of all mystic experience.

Then, in October, 1708, in a gurdwara at Nanded, on the banks of the Indian river Godawari, Guru Gobind Singh designated the Adi Granth as his successor, using in his address the words, ‘Guru maneyo Granth‘ (consider the Granth to be the Guru), affirming the text of the Granth as sacred and terminating the traditional line of human Gurus. Installed now as the ‘Guru Granth Sahib‘, it became the central text of Sikhism, and the eternal Guru of all Sikhs. In this way he conferred Guruship on the Granth Sahib as the living Guru of the Khalsa, declaring in his speech that the temporal functions of the Guru would be performed by the Five Beloveds, the Panj Pyares, the leaders of the Khalsa; and that spiritual guidance would be given in future by the Guru Granth Sahib.

Guru Gobind Singh prostrated himself as he offered his obeisance to the sacred Granth. He conferred Guruship on the Granth by walking around it five times and bowing his head before it. He declared that after him, the living Guru would be embodied in the Guru Granth Sahib. The Granth is now central to all Sikh worship and is said to incorporate the living spirit of the ten human Gurus. This gurdwara, Abchal Nagar Sahib gurdwara, is also the place where Guru Gobind Singh died the next day on October 7, 1708.

Guru Gobind Singh did not appoint any human successor in the line of human Guruship as had been the previous tradition. He declared the Guru Granth Sahib to be the ultimate source of authority and the eternal Guru of the Sikhs. Today the Sikh religion holds that in each of the succeeding Gurus, the spirit of Guru Nanak, the first Guru was incarnate, and wherever Sikhs assembled, he would be present. Today the sacred Granth is installed in all Sikh holy places of worship and is treated as the presiding presence of the Guru.

A building becomes a gurdwara (‘house of the Guru’) when the Guru Granth Sahib is kept inside. The Guru is placed on a raised throne-like platform (takht) with a decorated canopy above it. Every morning the Guru is taken out from its special rest room and carried on the head to the centre of the gurdwara, where it is placed on the throne. Devotees offer gifts as they bow to the Granth, whenever they enter the Gurdwara.

MARTYRDOM OF GURU TEGH BAHADUR

24 November

24th November 2026

Sikhi

1675 CE

As ordered by the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb, the ninth Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded in Sis Ganj, near Chandi Chowk in Old Delhi, for upholding the refusal of a number of Hindu Kashmiri Brahmins’ to convert to Islam. These Hindus had turned to him for help and the Guru told them to inform the Emperor that they would only convert if the Guru also converted. This of course he then refused to do. Guru Tegh Bahadur is accordingly honoured for sacrificing his head (sir) rather than his faith (sis) for the religious freedom of those of a different religious persuasion from himself.

Guru Tegh Bahadur was the youngest of the five sons of Guru Hargobind, and was born in 1621 CE. His name means ‘Mighty of Sword’, and his father foresaw that he would become his successor as Guru in due course. He received effective training in archery and horsemanship as well as in the classic teachings of the Sikh traditions. He showed early promise of mastery in all these fields, and also gave evidence of a deeply mystical temperament by his prolonged spells of seclusion and contemplation. This strain of his genius is best expressed in his sublime poetry, preserved in the Guru Granth. There was no doubt that he was his father’s favourite and that mighty events awaited him.

The Guru held several meetings with the Emperor, Aurangzeb. During the course of the discussions and the arguments that ensued in these conferences, Aurangzeb tried to justify his actions to crush infidels, by arguing that the Hindus were destined to be thrown into hell if they did not worship Allah, the one true God. He claimed he was carrying out this policy on the orders of the Almighty and that the only way for Hindus to gain admission to heaven and to avoid hell was to embrace Islam.

Guru Tegh Bahadur in His reply told the Emperor of Delhi: ‘All men are created by God and therefore must be free to worship in any manner they like.’ It is worth noting that the Sikhs are as much against idol worship as are the Muslims. Ideologically therefore Guru Tegh Bahadur and Aurangzeb were much nearer to each other, than either were to the Hindus – whose cause the Guru was defending. It is apparent that the Guru was espousing an ideology in which he himself did not believe. This is why his sacrifice was unique.

At the end of these discussions the Emperor gave the Guru three options:
(i) To embrace Islam as His religion and receive the highest honours in his court.
(ii) To perform miracles, which the Muslims regarded as the fundamental characteristic of a true prophet;
(iii) To accept death.

The Guru declined to accept Islam or to perform any miracles. ‘God’s favour is not for the purpose of show, like a juggler.’ Instead he willingly accepted the third offer – that of death. He was placed in prison in Delhi, and when he continued to plead the case for Hindu emancipation, he was placed in an iron cage and tortured. He was forced to witness the torture and death of some of his followers, one (Matidas) being sawn in half, while reciting the Japji, another being thrown into a cauldron of boiling water, and yet another torn apart. The Guru still refused to submit and was beheaded on the Emperor’s order. His example of courage and bravery had a profound influence on those who supported and followed him, and led eventually to a new era of freedom and tolerance for all.

BIRTHDAY OF GURU NANAK

24 November

24th November 2026

Sikhi

Although the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak, was born in April 1469, his birth anniversary (one of Sikhs’ most widely celebrated gurpurbs) is still generally celebrated on the full moon day of the lunar month of Kartik. It is a celebration observed by all Sikhs on this date, whether they observe the Bakrami lunar calendar or the more recent Nanakshahi one.

As is the case with all other gurpurbs, an akhand path (a complete, unbroken reading of the Guru Granth Sahib) commences two days earlier so that it ends on the morning of the festival. Sikhs gather at the gurdwara for hymn-singing (kirtan) and to hear kathas (homilies) and share the langar (free meal). The gurdwara may be illuminated and street processions take place too, culminating in some cases, as at Baisakhi, in the washing and redressing of the nishan, the flag and the flagpole erected outside each gurdwara.

The name “Nanak” was used by all subsequent Gurus while penning down their own spiritual revelations, recorded now in the holy scripture called the Guru Granth Sahib. So the second Sikh Guru, Guru Angad Dev Ji is also called the “Second Nanak” or “Nanak II”. It is believed by the Sikhs that all subsequent Gurus carried the same message as that of Guru Nanak and so they have used the name ‘Nanak’ in their holy text instead of their own name and hence are all understood to carry the divine ‘Light of Nanak’.

Although each of the ten human Gurus shares a common nature and equal honour, Guru Nanak is fêted as the one who initiated the Sikh tradition and determined its direction for the future. His creativity and humanity became landmarks for those who follow his example.