Gurpurab · Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji's Pehla Parkash is kept on 27 Bhadon.

Two dates carry particular significance in the history of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji — the first Parkash at Sri Harmandir Sahib in 1604, and the Gurgaddi at Nanded in 1708, when Guru Gobind Singh Ji conferred the Guruship on Guru Sahib.

Parkash

Pehla Parkash

Next year's date isn't in the SGPC calendar we publish from yet. We'll show it the day it is — we don't print a date we can't stand behind.

27 Bhadon · Nanakshahi

Gurgaddi

Gurgaddi Divas

11 Nov in 51 days

26 Katak · Nanakshahi

Gurdwaras following a different calendar may keep these on different days. That is normal, not a mistake — why the dates differ.

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What each day marks

Pehla Parkash · 1604

The first Parkash, at Sri Harmandir Sahib

By 1601 the Bani of four Gurus — carried forward as one volume, handed on with the Guruship itself — had reached Guru Arjan Dev Ji, along with the Bani of the Bhagats that Guru Nanak Dev Ji had gathered on his travels. Guru Arjan Dev Ji set about arranging that Bani: every composition placed under the raag it is sung in, spellings made consistent, and verses falsely circulating under Guru Nanak Dev Ji's name kept out.

He chose Bhai Gurdas Ji as scribe, and they worked at Ramsar, outside the town. What they finished in 1604 is the Adi Granth, also called Pothi Sahib — the form that would become Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. On 16 August 1604 the Adi Granth was carried to Sri Harmandir Sahib in a palanquin and installed. Baba Buddha Ji — who had known every Guru from Guru Nanak Dev Ji onward — was appointed the first Granthi. That is the first Parkash.

Gurgaddi Divas · 1708

The day Guru Sahib received the Guruship

A century later one body of Bani was still outside the Granth — that of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, martyred in 1675. At Damdama Sahib, Guru Gobind Singh Ji had a second Granth written out by Bhai Mani Singh Ji, with his father's compositions placed into each raag where they belonged. He placed none of his own writing within.

On 6 October 1708 at Nanded, the day before he passed, Guru Gobind Singh Ji conferred the Guruship on Guru Sahib.

ਸਭ ਸਿਖਨ ਕੋ ਹੁਕਮ ਹੈ ਗੁਰੂ ਮਾਨਿਯੋ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ।

Sabh sikhan ko hukam hai guroo maaniyo granth.

"All Sikhs are ordained to follow Granth Sahib as the Guru."

— Giani Gian Singh Ji. Panthic tradition remembering the instruction given at Nanded, not a transcript of it.

Why do we bow?

Children raised here ask this early, and it is a fair question. The short answer: Sikhs bow to the Guru, not to an object. Sikhi rejects idol worship outright, and a bow done without understanding carries nothing. What is being honoured is the Shabad — the living Word — and the authority it holds. Guru Ram Das Ji puts it without hedging:

ਬਾਣੀ ਗੁਰੂ ਗੁਰੂ ਹੈ ਬਾਣੀ ਵਿਚਿ ਬਾਣੀ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤੁ ਸਾਰੇ ॥

Baanee guroo guroo hai baanee vich baanee anmirat saare.

"The Word, the Bani is Guru, and Guru is the Bani. Within the Bani, the Ambrosial Nectar is contained."

— Guru Ram Das Ji, Ang 982

There is more to it — the humility in matha tekna, and Sachcha Patshah, the reason Sikhs have historically bowed to no worldly power at all. Read the full guide: Why do we bow in Gurdwara?

What happens at the gurdwara

  • An Akhand Path concluding on the day. A continuous reading of the whole of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, beginning roughly forty-eight hours before and timed to finish on the morning of the Gurpurab. Readers take it in turns so the reading never stops.
  • Kirtan. The Bani sung in its raags. On these two days ragis often choose Shabads about the Shabad itself.
  • Katha. An explanation of the history — usually the compilation at Ramsar on Pehla Parkash, and Nanded on Gurgaddi Divas.
  • Langar. Everybody sitting in rows on the floor as equals and eating together. No day off from this one.

If you are bringing children for the first time: heads covered, shoes off at the door, and nothing else is required of you.

What we do at home

Read the Hukamnama together

Most gurdwaras post the morning's Hukamnama online with an English translation. We read it in the morning. It takes two minutes.

The floor: read it on your own, whenever the day allows. That counts.

Do path at home — five pauris of Japji Sahib

Japji Sahib opens Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Five pauris is a short sitting — long enough to be a real one, short enough that children stay with it. Read them aloud together, in Gurmukhi if you can, in English if that is where your family is starting.

The floor: the Mool Mantar and the first pauri. Begin there.

Questions parents actually ask

When is the Parkash Purab of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji?
Pehla Parkash — the first installation at Sri Harmandir Sahib in 1604 — is kept on 27 Bhadon in the Nanakshahi calendar. It usually falls in late August or September. The second Gurpurab, Gurgaddi Divas, is kept on 26 Katak in the Nanakshahi calendar, which falls on 11 November 2026 this cycle, usually in late October or November.
Why does Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji have two Gurpurabs?
Because two different things happened, a century apart. Pehla Parkash marks the day the Adi Granth was first installed and read as scripture, in 1604. Gurgaddi Divas marks the day Guru Gobind Singh Ji conferred the Guruship on Guru Sahib at Nanded in 1708 — the day Guru Sahib became the Guru of the Sikhs, rather than the scripture of the Gurus.
Who compiled Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji?
Guru Arjan Dev Ji, beginning in 1601, with Bhai Gurdas Ji as scribe, working at Ramsar outside Amritsar. But he was arranging an inheritance rather than assembling one: Guru Nanak Dev Ji had recorded his own compositions and gathered the Bhagats' Bani on his travels, and that volume was handed on with the Guruship through Guru Angad Dev Ji, Guru Amar Das Ji and Guru Ram Das Ji before it reached him. Guru Gobind Singh Ji later had the final form written out by Bhai Mani Singh Ji at Damdama Sahib, adding Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji's Bani.
What do families do on these days?
Most families visit the gurdwara. There, an Akhand Path — a continuous reading of the whole of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, begun about forty-eight hours before — concludes on the day, followed by kirtan, katha and langar. At home, families do path together — reading Japji Sahib, for example. Many also read the day's Hukamnama together.
Who is allowed to attend?
Everyone. The doors are open by design to people of every faith and background, and langar is served to all as equals. You are asked to cover your head, remove your shoes at the entrance, and bring no tobacco or alcohol. First-time visitors are welcome, and nobody expects you to know the order of the programme.

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