Guru Nanak Sahib (the founder of Sikhism) was born on 15th April, 1469 at Rai-Bhoi-di Talwandi in the present distrect of Shekhupura (Pakistan), now Nanakana Sahib. The Birthday of Guru Nanak Sahib is celebrated on 15th Kartik Puranmashi i.e. full moon day of the month Kartik. This year Guru Nanak Birthday is falling on 10th Nov.
Nanak was an extra-ordinary and different child in many ways. God provided him with contemplative mind and rational thinking. At the age of seven, he learnt Hindi and Sanskrit. He surprised his teachers with the sublimity of his extra-ordinary knowledge about divine things. At the age of thirteen, he learned Persian and Sanskrit and at the age of 16, he was the most learned young man in the region. He was married to Mata Sulakhni ji, who gave birth to two sons: Sri Chand and Lakhmi Das.
At the age of 38, in August 1507, Guru Nanak Sahib heard God 's call to dedicate himself to the service of humanity after bathing in "Vain Nadi" (a small river) Near Sultanpur Lodhi. The very first sentence which he ' uttered then was, “There is no Hindu, no Musalman". He now undertook long travels to preach his unique and divine doctrine (Sikhism). After visiting different places in Punjab, he decided to proceed on four long tours covering different religious places in India and abroad. These tours are called Char Udasis of Guru Nanak Sahib.
During the four journeys, Guru Nanak Sahib visited different religious places preaching Sikhism. He went to Kurukshetra, Haridwar, Joshi Math, Ratha Sahib, Gorakh Matta (Nanak Matta), Audhya, Prayag, Varanasi, Gaya, Patna, Dhubri and Gauhati in Assam, Dacca, Puri, Cuttock, Rameshwaram, Ceylon, Bidar, Baroach, Somnath, Dwarka, Janagarh, Ujjain, Ajmer, Mathura, Pakpattan, Talwandi, Lahore, Sultanpur, Bilaspur, Rawalsar, Jawalaji, Spiti Vally, Tibet, Ladakh, Kargil, Amarnath, Srinagar and Baramula. Guru Nanak Sahib also paid visit to Muslim holy places. In this regard he went to Mecca, Medina, Beghdad via Multan, Peshawar Sakhar, Son Miani, Hinglaj etc. Some accounts say that Guru Sahib reached Mecca by sea-route. Guru Sahib also visited Syra, Turkey and Tehran (the present capital of Iran). From Tehran Guru Sahib set out on the caravan route and covered Kabul, Kandhar and Jalalabad. The real aim of the tour was awakening the people to realise the truth about God and to introduce Sikhism. He established a network of preaching centres of Sikhism which were called "Manjis". He appointed able and committed followers as its head (preacher of Sikhism). The basic tenents of Sikhism were wilfully conceived by the people from all walks of life. The seeds of Sikhism were sown all over India and abroad in well-planned manner.
During his tours, he visited numerous places of Hindu and Muslim worship. He explained and exposed through his preaching’s the incongruities and fruitlessness of ritualistic and ascetic practices. At Hardwar, when he found people throwing Ganges water towards the sun in the east as oblations to their ancestors in heaven, he started, as a measure of correction, throwing the water towards the West, in the direction of his fields in the Punjab. When ridiculed about his folly, he replied, "If Ganges water will reach your ancestors in heaven, why should the water I throw up not reach my fields in the Punjab, which are far less distant?”
Guru Nanak is well respected by Tibetan Buddhists who consider him a saint.
The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Buddhists in Tibet, has confirmed this in his discussions with some Sikh leaders saying that Tibetans revere Guru Nanak as a Buddhist saint under the name of Guru Gompka Maharaj.
According to one of the local legends of North Sikkim, some people approached Guru Ji with an appeal for help. Their lake remained frozen during most of the year with the ice so thick that they could not use it as a source of water. Guru Nanak Dev Ji is said to have touched the lake with his foot and around the area, for some distance, where he touched the lake has never frozen since. Guru Nanak's footprints, a robe and a water-carrying utensil are preserved in a nearby place called Lachen Gompha. Here the locals refer to Guru Ji as Rimpoche Nanak Guru who on his way to Tibet had rested there.
Some grazers posed another problem to Guru Nanak Ji. Due to the effect of altitude, their virility was affected and the birth rate was low. They requested the Guru to do something about it. Guru Nanak blessed the lake, saying, "Whosoever takes the water of this lake will gain virility and strength and will be blessed with children." The people of the area have firm faith in Guru's words and consider the water of the lake as nectar. A Gurudwara was constructed in the eighties to commemorate Guru Nanak's visit to the place.
During one of his Journey Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj along with Bhai Mardana ji visited a village where the people were very mean and did not paid any attention to spiritual values or honesty in their lives. Upon leaving the village after some days he rose his hand up and blessed the villagers and said - "Vasde raho"(May you prosper and remain here).
Next day Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj along with Bhai Mardana ji reached another village. In this village contrary to the people of the previous village the residents were very kind, honest and spiritual minded. They respected and paid utmost respect to Guru Nanak Dev ji. Guru ji spent some days there very comfortably and then bid farewell to village. While leaving, on outskirts of village Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj rose his hand up again said, "Ujad Jao" (May you get displaced). On hearing this Bhai Mardana ji was taken by surprise. He asked the Guru why he did so.
The Guru's response was simple: These people are good people with great values, and if they leave the village and go to different parts of the world wherever they go they will spread these values among the local population. More people will get influenced and become good and ethical (by doing their sangat (company)). The world will change for the better. Whereas people from the first village had no values and thus must live there only because these are not the values that need to be spread.
Guru Nanak Sahib settled down at Kartarpur city (now in Pakistan) which was founded by him in 1522 and spent the rest of his life there (1522-1539). There was daily Kirtan and the institution of Langar (free kitchen) was introduced. Knowing that the end was drawing near, Guru Nanak Sahib, after testing his two sons and some followers, installed Bhai Lehna ji (Guru Angad Sahib) as the Second Nanak in 1539, and after a few days passed into Sachkhand on 22nd September, 1539.
Thus, ended the worldly journey of this god-gifted Master (Guru) of mankind. He rejected the path of renunciation Tyaga orYoga, the authority of the Vedas and the Hindu caste system. Guru Nanak Sahib emphasized the leading of householder's life (Grista), unattached to gross materialism. The services of mankind Sewa, Kirtan, Satsang and faith in 'One' Omnipotent God are the basic concepts of Sikhism established by Guru Nanak Sahib. Thus he laid the foundations of Sikhism. He preached new idea of God as Supreme, Universal, All-powerful and truthful. God is Formless (Nirankar), the Sole, the Creator, the self-existent, the Incomprehensible and the Ever-lasting and the creator of all things (Karta Purakh). God is infinite, All knowing, True, All-giver, Nirvair, and Omnipotent. He is Satnam, the Eternal and Absolute Truth.
As a social reformer Guru Nanak Sahib upheld the cause of women, downtrodden and the poor’s. He attacked the citadel of caste system of Hindus and theocracy of Muslim rulers. He was a born poet. He wrote 974 hyms comprising Japji Sahib, Asa-Di-Var, Bara-Mah, Sidh-Gosht, Onkar (Dakhani) and these were included in Guru Granth Sahib by Guru Arjan Sahib. He was also a perfect musician. He with the company of Bhai Mardana composed such tunes in various Indian classical Ragas that charmed and tawed wild creatures like Babar, subdued saging kings, raved bigots and tyrants, made thugs and robbers’ saints. He was a reformer as well as a revolutionary. God had endowed him with a contemplative mind and pious disposition.
We the Sikh Community of Nagaland is celebrating His Birthday on 10th November in Dimapur Gurudwara, which is on Gurudwara Road (opposite town committee)
To mark this occasion one religious procession will be taken out from Gurudwara around 2 PM and will pass through Gururdwara Road, M.P Road ,Nymo Lotha Road ,Dhobinala and Gurmukh Singh Road.
All the communities and community Heads are requested to join us on this auspicious occasion. All are invited.
Complied By:-
Dolly Ahluwalia
General Secretary
Nagaland Sikh Gurudwara Management Board
Nanak was an extra-ordinary and different child in many ways. God provided him with contemplative mind and rational thinking. At the age of seven, he learnt Hindi and Sanskrit. He surprised his teachers with the sublimity of his extra-ordinary knowledge about divine things. At the age of thirteen, he learned Persian and Sanskrit and at the age of 16, he was the most learned young man in the region. He was married to Mata Sulakhni ji, who gave birth to two sons: Sri Chand and Lakhmi Das.
At the age of 38, in August 1507, Guru Nanak Sahib heard God 's call to dedicate himself to the service of humanity after bathing in "Vain Nadi" (a small river) Near Sultanpur Lodhi. The very first sentence which he ' uttered then was, “There is no Hindu, no Musalman". He now undertook long travels to preach his unique and divine doctrine (Sikhism). After visiting different places in Punjab, he decided to proceed on four long tours covering different religious places in India and abroad. These tours are called Char Udasis of Guru Nanak Sahib.
During the four journeys, Guru Nanak Sahib visited different religious places preaching Sikhism. He went to Kurukshetra, Haridwar, Joshi Math, Ratha Sahib, Gorakh Matta (Nanak Matta), Audhya, Prayag, Varanasi, Gaya, Patna, Dhubri and Gauhati in Assam, Dacca, Puri, Cuttock, Rameshwaram, Ceylon, Bidar, Baroach, Somnath, Dwarka, Janagarh, Ujjain, Ajmer, Mathura, Pakpattan, Talwandi, Lahore, Sultanpur, Bilaspur, Rawalsar, Jawalaji, Spiti Vally, Tibet, Ladakh, Kargil, Amarnath, Srinagar and Baramula. Guru Nanak Sahib also paid visit to Muslim holy places. In this regard he went to Mecca, Medina, Beghdad via Multan, Peshawar Sakhar, Son Miani, Hinglaj etc. Some accounts say that Guru Sahib reached Mecca by sea-route. Guru Sahib also visited Syra, Turkey and Tehran (the present capital of Iran). From Tehran Guru Sahib set out on the caravan route and covered Kabul, Kandhar and Jalalabad. The real aim of the tour was awakening the people to realise the truth about God and to introduce Sikhism. He established a network of preaching centres of Sikhism which were called "Manjis". He appointed able and committed followers as its head (preacher of Sikhism). The basic tenents of Sikhism were wilfully conceived by the people from all walks of life. The seeds of Sikhism were sown all over India and abroad in well-planned manner.
During his tours, he visited numerous places of Hindu and Muslim worship. He explained and exposed through his preaching’s the incongruities and fruitlessness of ritualistic and ascetic practices. At Hardwar, when he found people throwing Ganges water towards the sun in the east as oblations to their ancestors in heaven, he started, as a measure of correction, throwing the water towards the West, in the direction of his fields in the Punjab. When ridiculed about his folly, he replied, "If Ganges water will reach your ancestors in heaven, why should the water I throw up not reach my fields in the Punjab, which are far less distant?”
Guru Nanak is well respected by Tibetan Buddhists who consider him a saint.
The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Buddhists in Tibet, has confirmed this in his discussions with some Sikh leaders saying that Tibetans revere Guru Nanak as a Buddhist saint under the name of Guru Gompka Maharaj.
According to one of the local legends of North Sikkim, some people approached Guru Ji with an appeal for help. Their lake remained frozen during most of the year with the ice so thick that they could not use it as a source of water. Guru Nanak Dev Ji is said to have touched the lake with his foot and around the area, for some distance, where he touched the lake has never frozen since. Guru Nanak's footprints, a robe and a water-carrying utensil are preserved in a nearby place called Lachen Gompha. Here the locals refer to Guru Ji as Rimpoche Nanak Guru who on his way to Tibet had rested there.
Some grazers posed another problem to Guru Nanak Ji. Due to the effect of altitude, their virility was affected and the birth rate was low. They requested the Guru to do something about it. Guru Nanak blessed the lake, saying, "Whosoever takes the water of this lake will gain virility and strength and will be blessed with children." The people of the area have firm faith in Guru's words and consider the water of the lake as nectar. A Gurudwara was constructed in the eighties to commemorate Guru Nanak's visit to the place.
During one of his Journey Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj along with Bhai Mardana ji visited a village where the people were very mean and did not paid any attention to spiritual values or honesty in their lives. Upon leaving the village after some days he rose his hand up and blessed the villagers and said - "Vasde raho"(May you prosper and remain here).
Next day Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj along with Bhai Mardana ji reached another village. In this village contrary to the people of the previous village the residents were very kind, honest and spiritual minded. They respected and paid utmost respect to Guru Nanak Dev ji. Guru ji spent some days there very comfortably and then bid farewell to village. While leaving, on outskirts of village Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj rose his hand up again said, "Ujad Jao" (May you get displaced). On hearing this Bhai Mardana ji was taken by surprise. He asked the Guru why he did so.
The Guru's response was simple: These people are good people with great values, and if they leave the village and go to different parts of the world wherever they go they will spread these values among the local population. More people will get influenced and become good and ethical (by doing their sangat (company)). The world will change for the better. Whereas people from the first village had no values and thus must live there only because these are not the values that need to be spread.
Guru Nanak Sahib settled down at Kartarpur city (now in Pakistan) which was founded by him in 1522 and spent the rest of his life there (1522-1539). There was daily Kirtan and the institution of Langar (free kitchen) was introduced. Knowing that the end was drawing near, Guru Nanak Sahib, after testing his two sons and some followers, installed Bhai Lehna ji (Guru Angad Sahib) as the Second Nanak in 1539, and after a few days passed into Sachkhand on 22nd September, 1539.
Thus, ended the worldly journey of this god-gifted Master (Guru) of mankind. He rejected the path of renunciation Tyaga orYoga, the authority of the Vedas and the Hindu caste system. Guru Nanak Sahib emphasized the leading of householder's life (Grista), unattached to gross materialism. The services of mankind Sewa, Kirtan, Satsang and faith in 'One' Omnipotent God are the basic concepts of Sikhism established by Guru Nanak Sahib. Thus he laid the foundations of Sikhism. He preached new idea of God as Supreme, Universal, All-powerful and truthful. God is Formless (Nirankar), the Sole, the Creator, the self-existent, the Incomprehensible and the Ever-lasting and the creator of all things (Karta Purakh). God is infinite, All knowing, True, All-giver, Nirvair, and Omnipotent. He is Satnam, the Eternal and Absolute Truth.
As a social reformer Guru Nanak Sahib upheld the cause of women, downtrodden and the poor’s. He attacked the citadel of caste system of Hindus and theocracy of Muslim rulers. He was a born poet. He wrote 974 hyms comprising Japji Sahib, Asa-Di-Var, Bara-Mah, Sidh-Gosht, Onkar (Dakhani) and these were included in Guru Granth Sahib by Guru Arjan Sahib. He was also a perfect musician. He with the company of Bhai Mardana composed such tunes in various Indian classical Ragas that charmed and tawed wild creatures like Babar, subdued saging kings, raved bigots and tyrants, made thugs and robbers’ saints. He was a reformer as well as a revolutionary. God had endowed him with a contemplative mind and pious disposition.
We the Sikh Community of Nagaland is celebrating His Birthday on 10th November in Dimapur Gurudwara, which is on Gurudwara Road (opposite town committee)
To mark this occasion one religious procession will be taken out from Gurudwara around 2 PM and will pass through Gururdwara Road, M.P Road ,Nymo Lotha Road ,Dhobinala and Gurmukh Singh Road.
All the communities and community Heads are requested to join us on this auspicious occasion. All are invited.
Complied By:-
Dolly Ahluwalia
General Secretary
Nagaland Sikh Gurudwara Management Board
