This year Guru Nanak Jayanti is being celebrated on November 8, 2022. This year, it will be the 553rd birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. As per religious sources, it is believed that Guru Nanak is the first Guru of Sikhism. Guru Nanak Dev was born on 15 April 1469 at Talwandi Nankana Sahib. Around 551 years ago, the first Sikh guru was born on this day in a village named Rai Bhoi di Talwandi, which now comes under Pakistan, near Lahore. This place is also popularly known as Nankana Sahib. Guru Nanak Dev is known for preaching peace and harmony and his teachings are preserved in the holy texts, known as Guru Granth Sahib.
History
Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, was born on Puranmashi of Kattak in 1469, according to the Vikram Samvat calendar in Rai-Bhoi-di Talwandi in the present Shekhupura District of Pakistan, now Nankana Sahib. It is a Gazetted holiday in India. According to the controversial Bhai Bala Janamsakhi, it claims Guru Nanak was born on the Full Moon (Pooranmashi) of the Indian Lunar Month Kartik. The Sikhs have been celebrating Guru Nanak's Gurpurab around November for this reason and has it been ingrained in Sikh Traditions.
However, some scholars and organizations believe the Birthday should be celebrated on Vaisakhi, which falls on 14 April according to the original Nanakshahi Calendar passed by Sri Akal Takht in 2003. However, many people and organizations would like to keep the traditional date by celebrating on the Full Moon Day (Pooranmashi or Purnima) of the Lunar Month Kartik. The original Nanakshahi Calendar follows the tradition and celebrates it on Kartik Purnima due to demands by various Sikh Saints.
During first quarter of the 16th century, Nanak went on long udasiya ('journeys') for spiritual pursuits. A verse authored by him states that he visited several places in "nau-khand" ('the nine regions of the earth'), presumably the major Hindu and Muslim pilgrimage centres.
Some modern accounts state that he visited Tibet, most of South Asia, and Arabia, starting in 1496 at age 27, when he left his family for a thirty-year period. These claims include Nanak's visit to Mount Sumeru of Indian mythology, as well as Mecca, Baghdad, Achal Batala, and Multan, where he would debate religious ideas with opposing groups. These stories became widely popular in the 19th and 20th century, and exist in many versions.
In 1508, Nanak visited the Sylhet region in Bengal. The janamsakhis suggest that Nanak visited the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya in 1510–11 CE.
The Baghdad inscription remains the basis of writing by Indian scholars that Guru Nanak journeyed in the Middle East, with some claiming he visited Jerusalem, Mecca, Vatican, Azerbaijan and Sudan.
Significance
Guru Nanak Dev preached that any person could connect to God by worshipping with clear conscience. His teachings are included in Guru Granth Sahib.
Facts about Guru Nanak Jayanti
He Promoted the Oneness of Mankind
He was one of the most traveled people in history
In India at the time Guru Nanak was around, women had very few rights. Widows were often burnt alive as their husbands were cremated and women in general were not allowed to remarry. Guru Nanak Dev Ji preached against this discrimination and sought to improve the respect of women.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji is revered in many different cultures and as such has been given various names. In Afghanistan He is commonly called Nanak Peer. He is also known as Nanak Rishi in Nepal, Baba Nanak in Iraq, Nanaka-Chraya in Sri Lanka and Nanak Lama in Tibet. These are just a few examples.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji started the Sikh concept of langar over 500 years ago as a child. Translating as ”communal kitchen”, langar sees every Gurdwara (Sikh temple) in the world have an open kitchen that distributes free meals all day, every day, to anyone, regardless of faith, gender, age or status.
The hagiographic details are a subject of dispute, with modern scholarship questioning the details and authenticity of many claims. For example, Callewaert and Snell (1994) state that early Sikh texts do not contain such stories. From when the travel stories first appear in hagiographic accounts of Guru Nanak, centuries after his death, they continue to become more sophisticated as time goes on, with the late phase Puratan version describing four missionary journeys, which differ from the Miharban version.
When is Guru Nanak Jayanti?
It is on November 8, 2022. Why do we celebrate Guru Nanak Jayanti?
The Sikhs have been celebrating Guru Nanak's Gurpurab around November for this reason and has it been ingrained in Sikh Traditions. However, some scholars and organizations believe the Birthday should be celebrated on Vaisakhi, which falls on 14 April according to the original Nanakshahi Calendar passed by Sri Akal Takht in 2003. However, many people and organizations would like to keep the traditional date by celebrating on the Full Moon Day (Pooranmashi or Purnima) of the Lunar Month Kartik. The original Nanakshahi Calendar follows the tradition and celebrates it on Kartik Purnima due to demands by various Sikh Saints.What is the history of Guru Nanak Jayanti?
Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, was born on Puranmashi of Kattak in 1469, according to the Vikram Samvat calendar in Rai-Bhoi-di Talwandi in the present Shekhupura District of Pakistan, now Nankana Sahib. It is a Gazetted holiday in India. According to the controversial Bhai Bala Janamsakhi, it claims Guru Nanak was born on the Full Moon (Pooranmashi) of the Indian Lunar Month Kartik. The Sikhs have been celebrating Guru Nanak's Gurpurab around November for this reason and has it been ingrained in Sikh traditions.Why is it celebrated during Kartik Purnima?
The original Nanakshahi Calendar follows the tradition and celebrates it on Kartik Purnima due to demands by various Sikh Saints.What all things Guru Nanak Dev Ji did for the society?
Guru Nanak Dev Ji preached against this discrimination and sought to improve the respect of women.
