Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti

Guru Gobind Singh Gurpurab celebrates the birth of the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. Born Gobind Rai in Patna, he became Guru while still young after the martyrdom of his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur. His life combined spiritual leadership, literary learning and resistance to persecution. The defining institutional moment came at Vaisakhi in 1699 at Anandpur Sahib, when he formed the Khalsa and initiated the Panj Pyare, establishing a disciplined identity grounded in courage, equality, service and devotion. He later affirmed the Guru Granth Sahib as the enduring spiritual Guru for Sikhs, bringing the line of personal human Gurus to its close. The Gurpurab is observed through Akhand Path, kirtan, nagar kirtan, langar and seva. The day remembers disciplined freedom: spiritual conviction joined with readiness to defend dignity and justice.

Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti is significant to the community that observes it and helps preserve religious, family and cultural continuity.

Akhand path, nagar kirtan and langar, and gatka - the sword form - demonstrated by the young. The day is kept on the Nanakshahi calendar in most gurdwaras, which is why it sometimes falls twice in one Gregorian year and sometimes not at all.

Takht Sri Patna Sahib, where he was born, keeps the largest observance; Anandpur Sahib and Nanded keep the other ends of his life. The date follows the Nanakshahi calendar, which fixes some gurpurabs to solar dates and leaves this one lunar - so it can fall twice in one Gregorian year, or not at all.