Guru Gobind Singh Gurpurabਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਗੁਰਪੁਰਬ

Guru Gobind Singh Gurpurab is the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Sikh Guru, who was born in 1666 at Patna in Bihar. Sikhs keep it in December or January, with Akhand Path, Nagar Kirtan, kirtan and langar, and the largest celebrations take place at Takht Sri Harmandir Ji Patna Sahib, the gurdwara that stands where he was born.

What is Guru Gobind Singh Gurpurab?

Guru Gobind Singh Gurpurab, also called Parkash Purab or Prakash Parv, is the festival of the birth of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Parkash means the coming of divine light into the world, and the day honours the Guru who founded the Khalsa and gave the Sikhs their distinct identity. It is one of the most widely celebrated festivals in the Sikh calendar, kept by Sikhs in Punjab, across India and throughout the diaspora.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji was born on 22 December 1666 at Patna, in present-day Bihar, the only one of the ten Gurus born outside Punjab. He was the son of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji and Mata Gujri Ji. He became Guru at the age of nine, after his father's martyrdom at Delhi, and on Vaisakhi 1699 at Anandpur Sahib he created the Khalsa, the order of initiated Sikhs that still defines Sikh life today.

When is Guru Gobind Singh Gurpurab celebrated?

The Nanakshahi calendar fixes the Parkash Purab on 5 January, but the day actually kept moves between late December and mid-January, so families check the year's calendar rather than assuming a fixed date.

The confusion has an old cause. The Guru was born on 22 December 1666 by the Julian calendar then in use, which is 1 January in the Gregorian calendar. The traditional Bikrami observance falls on Saptami in the month of Paush, in late December, while the Nanakshahi calendar first fixed the birthday on 5 January and later listings moved it to 6 January. In recent years the holiday has been listed on both dates: 6 January and 27 December in 2025, and 5 January and 28 December in 2026.

Whatever the date, the pattern of the celebration is the same every year, and the week around it is a solemn one as well as a joyful one: late December also holds the martyrdom days of the Guru's four sons, the Sahibzade, remembered at Chamkaur and Fatehgarh Sahib.

How does the celebration begin?

The celebration begins two days before Gurpurab, when the Akhand Path starts: a continuous, unbroken reading of the Guru Granth Sahib that takes about 48 hours to complete. Readers take turns through day and night so the reading never stops, and it finishes on the morning of Gurpurab itself.

In the same days, gurdwaras are cleaned and decorated with lights and flowers, and families gather for kirtan and katha, the singing of hymns and the telling of the Guru's life. In Patna, the whole old city around Takht Sri Harmandir Ji prepares for the crowds that arrive from across India and abroad.

What happens in a Nagar Kirtan?

On the day before Gurpurab, the sangat takes the celebration into the streets in a Nagar Kirtan, a procession through the town. Five amritdhari Sikhs in the role of the Panj Pyare walk at the front, followed by the Guru Granth Sahib carried on a decorated palki, then ragis singing hymns, brass bands, and devotees singing along. Young Sikhs often show gatka, the Sikh martial art, along the route.

The procession is both a celebration and a public statement: the Guru's message carried openly through the streets, with langar served to everyone along the way, Sikh or not. In Patna the procession winds through the old city; in the diaspora it runs through the streets of Southall, Surrey, Toronto, California and every city with a Sikh sangat.

The day of Gurpurab

On the morning of Gurpurab, the sangat gathers before dawn for Asa di Var, the morning kirtan, and the bhog of the Akhand Path, the completion of the 48-hour reading. Katha tells the story of the Guru's birth at Patna and his life: the child brought to Punjab at five, the Guru at nine, the founding of the Khalsa, and the passing of the Guruship to the Guru Granth Sahib, the eternal Guru.

Ardas is offered, the Hukamnama is read, and langar is served to all who come. In the evening, gurdwaras are lit with divas and strings of lights, and fireworks mark the joy of the day. The mood is joyful, but it is never only joyful: the same season remembers the Guru's sons, and the celebration carries both the light of the birth and the cost of the sacrifices that followed it.

Where is Gurpurab kept biggest?

The largest celebrations take place at Takht Sri Harmandir Ji Patna Sahib, the gurdwara that stands on the Guru's birthplace and one of the five Takhts. Devotees arrive from across India and abroad, and the celebrations run for days. For the 360th Prakash Parv, the Bihar government planned celebrations from 9 to 16 January 2027, with accommodation for around 20,000 devotees and special buses, trains and medical arrangements.

Anandpur Sahib, where the Guru founded the Khalsa, and Hazur Sahib at Nanded, where he passed the Guruship to the Guru Granth Sahib, also hold large celebrations. In the diaspora, every gurdwara marks the day, and the Nagar Kirtans of London, Vancouver, Toronto and California draw thousands.

What does Gurpurab ask of those who keep it?

Gurpurab is not only a birthday. It asks those who keep it to remember what the tenth Guru stood for: courage without hatred, equality without exception, and service without reward. He is remembered as Sant Sipahi, saint and soldier, and the Khalsa he founded was meant to stand against tyranny and to protect the defenceless.

That is why the day is kept with both celebration and resolve. The lights and the processions honour a birth; the kirtan, the langar and the ardas recommit the sangat to the Guru's teaching, that a Sikh's faith is proved not in words but in how they live, serve and stand up for others.