Nagar Kirtanਨਗਰ ਕੀਰਤਨ

A Nagar Kirtan is the day Sikh worship leaves the gurdwara and walks through the town. The Guru Granth Sahib Ji travels on a decorated float, the Panj Pyare walk ahead, hymns are sung the whole way, and the street itself is swept, fed and welcomed. It is at once a service, a celebration and an open invitation to neighbours.

What does Nagar Kirtan mean?

Nagar Kirtan is a Punjabi phrase. Nagar means town or neighbourhood, and kirtan means the singing of shabads, the divine hymns of the Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Put together, the words describe the procession of the Sikh sangat, the congregation, through the town singing holy hymns. SikhiWiki gives the plain purpose behind the name: the concept of a Nagar Kirtan is to bring the message of God to the doorstep of the community.

That is why a Nagar Kirtan is not best understood as a parade with religious decoration. The singing is the event. Kirtan is the central act of Sikh worship, and a Nagar Kirtan is that worship in motion: the scripture is present, the hymns are continuous, and everything else, the martial arts, the floats and the food stalls, arranges itself around that fact. Wherever Sikhs live, Nagar Kirtans take place, and they are especially common in the month of Vaisakhi.

What happens at a Nagar Kirtan?

First, the road is prepared. Volunteers called sevadars sweep the street ahead of the procession as an act of seva, selfless service, and many in the procession walk unshod, without shoes, in deference to the scripture on display, as Wikipedia records. At the head walk the Panj Pyare, the Five Beloved Ones. SikhiWiki describes them in their colourful bana, the dress befitting the occasion, and notes that the five are almost always Amritdhari, baptised Khalsa Sikhs. They represent the first five Sikhs of the Khalsa, who at Vaisakhi in 1699 stepped forward when Guru Gobind Singh Ji called for those willing to give their heads, and who came from different regions and backgrounds.

Behind the Panj Pyare comes the heart of the procession: the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, placed on a float, often a canopied palanquin or palki banked with flowers. Sewadars on the float perform kirtan and attend to the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, and a granthi, its custodian, sits close by while the chaur, a ceremonial whisk, is waved above it as a sign of honour. Onlookers bow their heads as the float passes, and many join the walking at that moment rather than simply watching it go by. The sangat walks behind, singing shabads, and the procession concludes at the gurdwara with Ardas, the concluding prayer, as the Guru Granth Sahib Ji re-enters the building.

Around that core, a large Nagar Kirtan fills the street. Ragi jathas, groups of musicians, perform kirtan along the route so the singing never stops. Gatka teams demonstrate the Sikh martial art in the cleared road, spinning sticks and swords to the beat of drums, among them the large nagara kettledrums that traditionally announce a procession. Floats and banners from local gurdwaras and community groups follow. Along the pavements, langar moves outdoors: food and drinks are served from stationary points and from floats that follow the scripture, free to everyone on the street, Sikh or not. Prashad, sacred food, is offered by sevadars to those who pay their respects. The feeding is not an extra. It is the teaching of equality and service made visible.

History and the occasions it marks

The roots are described by the sources as tradition rather than as a single dated founding. Sikh tradition records Guru Nanak Dev Ji travelling and singing publicly rather than teaching from a fixed seat, and the Learn Punjabi guide notes that the modern large scale form developed over the last two centuries. A SikhChic roundtable essay traces the origins to an older practice called prabhat pheri, the early morning round of hymn singing, and says it is believed that an early prabhat pheri took place at the time of Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji's imprisonment in Gwalior Fort, when Baba Buddha Ji led a march around the fort to raise the spirits of Sikhs and express love for the detained Guru. The same essay credits Baba Attar Singh Ji of Mastuana with promoting Nagar Kirtans on a large scale at the beginning of the twentieth century to unite the Sikh Panth.

The great occasion is Vaisakhi, in April, which marks both the Punjabi harvest season and the founding of the Khalsa in 1699, which is why the Panj Pyare lead the way. Nagar Kirtans are also held for Gurpurabs, the anniversaries of the Gurus, most prominently Guru Nanak Gurpurab, the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji in the autumn. Individual gurdwaras hold them for their own anniversaries and local commemorations as well. In each case the pattern is the same: a community marks a sacred date by taking its scripture, its music and its kitchen out to meet the town.

Nagar Kirtans around the world today

In the diaspora the Nagar Kirtan has become one of the largest public expressions of Sikh life. The Punjabi and Sikh Diaspora Digital Archive at the University of California, Davis records Yuba City in California as host to one of the largest South Asian festivals outside the Indian subcontinent. Its Sikh Parade, a Nagar Kirtan celebrating the installation of the Guru Granth Sahib Ji as the living Guru, was inaugurated in 1980, follows a 4.5 mile route through the city, draws nearly 100,000 people each year, and sees Sikh families give away between 200,000 and 250,000 free meals over the weekend.

In Britain, the SikhChic essay remembers one of the earliest United Kingdom Nagar Kirtans in Southall, west London, in 1975, held to mark the tercentenary of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji's martyrdom: a simple and small affair at the time, which four decades later was drawing over 100,000 members of the sangat from Southall and surrounding towns. Large Vaisakhi processions are also held in cities such as Toronto and Surrey in Canada, where the procession closes streets for a day and langar stalls line the route. The scale differs, but a village Nagar Kirtan in Punjab and a city one in Canada share the same order: Panj Pyare first, the Guru Granth Sahib Ji at the centre, singing throughout, and food for all.

What should a visitor know?

Everyone is welcome, and no ticket, invitation or knowledge of Punjabi is needed. Cover your head as a sign of respect in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib Ji: a scarf, a bandana or a cloth covering is often available free near the start of the route. When the float approaches, stand, step back to let it pass, and bow your head if you wish, as bystanders do along every route. Many participants walk barefoot; that is a personal act of humility, not a requirement for guests.

Accept the food. Volunteers have cooked since early morning so that anyone on that street can eat, and eating is part of how a visitor honours the occasion. Do not bring alcohol, tobacco or meat near the procession. Photographs are common, but ask before photographing individuals up close. The simplest way to take part is the one most first time watchers choose in the end: fall in behind the float and walk, and sing if you can. Read next: Kirtan, Vaisakhi and Panj Pyare.