ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>GURPURB</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="GURPURB"> <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">&#65279GURPURB, a compound of two words, i.e. <i>gur&#363</i>, the spiritual preceptor, and <i>purb, parva</i> in Sanskrit, meaning a festival or celebration, signifies in the Sikh tradition the holy day commemorating one or another of the anniversaries related to the lives of the Gur&#363s. Observance of such anniversaries is a conspicuous feature of the Sikh way of life. A line frequently quoted from the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib in this context reads <i>"b&#257b&#257&#7751i&#257 kah&#257&#7751&#299&#257 put saput kareni</i> -- it only becomes worthy progeny to remember the deeds of the elders" (GG, 951). Among the more important <i>gurpurbs</i> on the Sikh calendar are the birth anniversaries of Gur&#363 N&#257nak and Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, the martyrdom days of Gur&#363 Arjan and Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur, and of the installation of the Holy Book in the Harimandar at Amritsar on Bh&#257do&#7749 <i>sud&#299</i> 1, 1661 Bk/16 August 1604. Alongside these may be mentioned Bais&#257kh&#299, the first day of the Indian month of Bais&#257kh, which marks the birth, in 1699, of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Panth, and the martyrdom days of the young sons of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh. There are indications in the old chronicles that the succeeding Gur&#363s themselves celebrated the birthday of Gur&#363 N&#257nak. Such importance was attached to the anniversaries that dates of the deaths of the first four Gur&#363s were recorded on a leaf in the first recension of the Scripture prepared by the Fifth Gur&#363, Gur&#363 Arjan. The word <i>gurpurb</i> had come into use in the times of the Gur&#363s. It occurs in at least five places, in Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s (1551-1636), contemporary with Gur&#363 Arjan. To quote, <i>"kurb&#257n&#299 tin&#257 gursikh&#257 bh&#257e bhagati gurpurb kara&#7751de</i>. -- I am a sacrifice unto Sikhs who with love and devotion observe the <i>gurpurb</i>" (<i>V&#257r&#257&#7749</i>, XII.2).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;What happens on <i>gurpurbs</i> is a mixture of the religious and the festive, the devotional and the spectacular, the personal and the communal. Over the years a standardized pattern has evolved. Yet no special sanctity attaches to the form, and variations can be and are indeed made depending on the imaginativeness and initiative of local groups. At these celebrations, the Sikh Scripture, the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, is read through, in private homes and in the <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i>, in a single continuous ceremony lasting forty-eight hours. This reading, called <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257&#7789h</i>, must be without interruption; the relay of reciters who take turns at saying the Scripture ensures that no break occurs. Additionally special assemblies are held in <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> and discourses given on the lives and teachings of the Gur&#363s. Sikhs march in processions through towns and cities chanting the holy hymns. Special <i>la&#7749gars</i>, or community meals, are held for the participants who at certain places may be counted by the thousand. To partake of a common repast on these occasions is reckoned an act of merit. Programmes include initiating those not already initiated into the order of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 in the manner in which Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh had done in 1699. Sikh journals and newspapers bring out their special numbers to mark the event. There are public functions held, besides the more literary and academic ones in schools and colleges. On <i>gurpurbs</i> commemorating birth anniversaries, there might be illuminations in <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> as well as in residential houses. Friends and families exchange greetings. Coming into vogue are the printed cards such as those used in the West for Christmas and the New Year day.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sikh fervour for <i>gurpurb</i> celebration had an unprecedented outlet at the time of the tercentenary of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's birth in 1967. There is no evidence on record whether centennials previously had been similarly observed. References are however traceable to a proposal for especially marking the second centennial in 1899 of the birth of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257. The suggestion came from Max Arthur Macauliffe, author of the monumental work, <i>The Sikh Religion</i>, but it did not receive much popular support. The three hundredth birth anniversary in 1967 of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh turned out to be a major celebration evoking widespread enthusiasm and initiating long-range academic and literary programmes. It also set a new trend and format. With the same ardour have been observed some other days as well; in 1969, the fifth centennial of Gur&#363 N&#257nak's birth; in 1973, the first centenary of the birth of the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257; in 1975, the third centenary of the martyrdom of Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur; in 1977, the fourth centenary of the founding by Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s of the city of Amritsar; in 1979, the 500th anniversary of the birth of Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s; in 1980, the 200th anniversary of the birth of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh; in 1982, the third birth centennial of B&#257b&#257 D&#299p Si&#7749gh, the martyr.</p> </ol><p class="CONT">Harmandar Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>