Guru Sahib’s Parkash Utsav honors the 1604 opening ceremony of the Guru Granth Sahib at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, which is known as the first parkash. The Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh religion's holy book, contains the teachings of many saints as well as the words of the Sikh Gurus.In the year 1604 in the town of Amritsar, the Fifth Sikh Guru, Arjan Dev, began compiling the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Gobind Singh worked on its final, second version, which was completed at Damdama Sahib in 1705. To the collection created a century earlier, he added the hymns of his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, the Ninth Master, as well as a couplet of his own. The authorized version has been repeatedly copied and printed since that time, and it is still in effect.
The Sikhs' worship or veneration of it is an element of faith. Adi Sri Granth Sahib Ji, also known as Guru Granth Sahib, the Adi Granth, or Adi Guru Darbar, is more than just a Sikh scripture; in fact, the Sikhs revered and regarded the Granth (holy book) as their living Guru. The real words said by the Ten Gurus of Sikhism, the founders of the Sikh religion, are recorded in the revealed sacred scripture, which is 1430 pages long.
In 1708, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the final of the human-form Sikh Masters, conferred the Guruship on Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Gobind Singh Ji commanded that the Granth Sahib be regarded as the Sikhs' next and eternal Guru before he passed away. All Sikhs are required to accept the Granth as their Guru, according to Guru Ji's statement, "Sab Sikhan ko hukam hai Guru Manyo Granth." As a result, the Sikhs will tell you they have had a total of 11 Gurus if you ask them today. The Guru Granth Sahib, the immortal Shabad Guru, and ten other Gurus in human form.
The Guru Granth Sahib's catholic nature is one of its finest virtues. A scripture of that stature is rarely free from prejudice, hostility, and dispute. When we consider the obscurantism, factionalism, and fanaticism of the era in which it was written, the Granth's singularity in this regard is, in reality, all the more astounding. It may be the only text of its sort to include the songs, hymns, and pronouncements of so many different saints, sages, and bards within its holy pages. Because it is important to observe that a sizable portion of the book contains the works of Hindu bhaktas, Muslim divines, Sufi poets, and other devout individuals. Guru Arjan Dev's intention was undoubtedly to emphasize the inherent similarity of all religions and the universality of every mystic experience. In a sense, it was a vital congress of minds and spirits working together on the same spiritual axis. It was a tribute to the power of the word, in whatever form it may manifest the glory of God, to have raised the songs of the bhaktas and the bhagats to the status of the logos.
The poetry of the Guru Granth deserves careful attention in and of itself. The primary language used is the language of the saints, which was developed during the medieval era and which, with some alterations, was still widely spoken in Northern India. Its directness, vigor, and resilience were what made it appealing. It was laced with phrases from Sanskrit, Prakrit, Persian, and Arabic, based on some of the regional dialects.
The Granth had been put together by the Guru and placed in Amritsar's freshly finished Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple). On August 30, 1604, Guru Arjan conducted the first parkash (opening ceremony) in the Golden Temple. The Guru suggested and Bhai Buddha selected the caretaker of the Granth Sahib. The Guru then made a bow in front of the group, acknowledging the bani's higher authority over his own intrinsic value and role as a Guru. Then, instead of sitting on a level above the Granth Sahib, he sat beneath it. As part of the daily public devotion that the Guru established at the temple, the Granth was chanted loudly throughout the day to the accompaniment of stringed instruments (kirtan).
The poetry of the Guru Granth deserves careful attention in and of itself. The primary language used is the language of the saints, which was developed during the medieval era and which, with some alterations, was still widely spoken in Northern India. Its directness, vigor, and resilience were what made it appealing. It was laced with phrases from Sanskrit, Prakrit, Persian, and Arabic, based on some of the regional dialects.At this point, Guru Gobind Singh revised the Adi Granth to its current state. The Guru added four hymns to the opening of the Granth for evening prayers and deleted certain dictation of the Guru Granth Sahib Unauthenticated passages. Many hymns composed by Guru Tegh Bahadur, Guru Gobind Singh's father, were also added. The Granth was otherwise kept in its previous state from Guru Arjan's time.
Guru Granth Sahib, like the other Gurus, became the incarnation of Divine Light when the Guruship was transferred. It is important to keep in mind that when Sikhs bow before the Guru Granth Sahib, they are not doing so in front of a book but rather in front of the Divine Light or Jot (Guru) that was transmitted when the Guruship was granted to it. Not idol worship, but reverence for a divine message, the principles and ideals outlined in the Sikh scripture, is what is meant by regard and devotion for the Guru Granth. It is not an object of worship in and of itself, but rather the source or a method of God's adoration through His Word.
The Guru Granth Sahib's precise prosody is another notable quality. Its hymns and songs make use of well-known folk metres like alahanis, ghoris, chands, etc., despite the fact that a large portion of it, written in traditional verse forms (salokas and pauris), could be better understood in the context of the well-known classical ragas. Scholarly integrity and care have been used to uphold the essential connection between music and verse. The Granth's metrics and notations are unusually rigorous yet flexible due to its thorough musicalization of cognition in a scientific and methodical manner. There are 33 sections in the entire Bani, which has 1430 pages in its printed version in its current arrangement. Any treachery or transgression is unforgivable. The hymns' nuptial and spousal imagery is sensuously rich, appropriate, and stunning. As a result, the Guru Granth Sahib gives a comprehensive Weltans-Chauung, or world-view. It provides an ideal set of values as well as a practical rule of conduct. It is, indeed, the all-encompassing instructor.
