ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>AKHA&#7750&#7692 P&#256&#7788H </TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="AKHAF ,PlH"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279AKHA&#7750&#7692 P&#256&#7788H (akha&#7751&#7693 = uninterrupted, without break; <i>p&#257&#7789h</i> = reading) is non-stop, continuous recital of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib from beginning to end. Such a recital must be completed within 48 hours. The entire Holy Volume, 1430 large pages, is read through in a continuous ceremony. This reading must go on day and night, without a moment's intermission. The relay of reciters who take turns at saying Scripture must ensure that no break occurs. As they change places at given intervals, one picks the line from his predecessor's lips and continues. When and how the custom of reciting the canon in its entirety in one continuous service began is not known. Conjecture traces it to the turbulent days of the eighteenth century when persecution had scattered the Sikhs to far-off places. In those exilic, uncertain times, the practice of accomplishing a reading of the Holy Book by a continuous recital is believed to have originated.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Important days on the Sikh calendar are marked by <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257&#7789hs</i> in <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i>. Celebrations and ceremonies in Sikh families centre upon <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257&#7789hs</i>. The homes are filled with holiness for those two days and nights as the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, installed with ceremony in a room, especially cleaned out for the occasion, is being recited. Apart from lending the air sanctity, such readings make available to listeners the entire text. The listeners come as they wish and depart at their will. Thus they keep picking up snatches of the <i>ba&#7751&#299</i> from different portions at different times. Without such ceremonial recitals, the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, large in volume, would remain generally inaccessible to the laity except for <i>b&#257&#7751&#299s</i> which are recited by the Sikhs as part of their daily devotions. In bereavement, families derive comfort from these <i>p&#257&#7789hs</i>. Obsequies in fact conclude with a completed reading of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. At such <i>p&#257&#7789hs</i>, the Holy Book is generally recited or intoned, not merely read. This brings out tellingly the poetic quality of the <i>b&#257&#7751&#299</i> and its power to move or grip the listener. But it must be listened to in silence, sitting on the floor in front of the Holy Book in a reverent posture. The start of the <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257th</i> is preceded by a short service at which holy hymns may be recited, followed by an <i>ard&#257s</i>offered for the successful conclusion of the<i>p&#257&#7789h</i>and distribution of <i>ka&#7771&#257hpras&#257d</i>or Sikh sacarment. A similar service marks the conclusion. <i>Ard&#257s</i> and <i>ka&#7771&#257hpras&#257d</i> are also offered as the reading reaches midway.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Harba&#7749s Si&#7749gh, <i>Berkeley Lectures on Sikhism</i>. Delhi, 1983<BR> <li class="C1"><i>Sikh Rahit Mary&#257d&#257</i>. Amritsar, 1975<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">T&#257ran Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>