Golden Temple illuminates on 415th anniversary of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Parkash Parv

The Harmandar Sahib, popularly known as Golden Temple, shone brighter as it was illuminated by lights and candles on the occasion of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Parkash Utsav on Saturday.

Being one of Sikh's prominent and revered places of worship, a sea of devotees thronged the vast campus and lighted candles, diyas besides the pool.

The main temple situated amidst the water body is plated with gold and was irradiated with yellow bulbs hanging over it.

Guru Granth Sahib Parkash Parv commemorates the 415th anniversary of the installation of Sikh's holy book, Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

On the occasion, people here even participated in a procession which was carried outside the Ramsar Gurudwara.

Men were seen dressed in the traditional attires with blue turbans. They also performed various stunts with their swords while people marched along followed by drum (dhol) beats.

The massive project to compile Guru Granth Sahib, which has hymns from some of the ten Sikh gurus, was undertaken by the fifth guru of the Sikhs, Guru Arjan Dev.

The voluminous book was finally completed in 1604 and was installed at the Golden Temple. It also contains the teachings of prominent Indian saints, such as Ravidas, Ramananda, Bhagat Bhikhan, Kabir and Namdev among others, and Muslim Sufi saint Sheikh Farid.

The text is regarded by the Sikhs as a living embodiment of their ten spiritual leaders and is pivotal in worship in Sikhism. It is an auspicious day for the Sikh community and is celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm and fervour.

Every year, the Sikhs celebrate the anniversary with great fanfare and fervour with its best part being the fireworks.

( With inputs from ANI )