ਅਖੰਡ ਪਾਠ

Akhand Path (ਅਖੰਡ ਪਾਠ) is the continuous, uninterrupted reading of the entire Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy scripture, from the first page to the last. A relay of readers keeps the reading going day and night, and the whole volume, 1,430 pages, is normally completed within about 48 hours.

What does akhand path mean in Punjabi?

The name explains the practice. Akhand means uninterrupted, without a break, and path means a reading, so an akhand path is a reading that never pauses. The discipline is precise: the entire holy volume is read through in one continuous ceremony, the reading must go on day and night without a moment's intermission, and as the reciters change places at given intervals, each one picks up the line from the lips of the reader before and carries it on.

It is a reading, not a performance. The path is recited aloud, clearly and correctly, and listeners sit quietly on the floor before the Guru Granth Sahib in a reverent posture. Because the volume is so large, the ceremony also makes the whole text available to ordinary listeners, who come and go as they wish and hear different portions of the bani at different times.

How is an Akhand Path held?

A short service opens the reading: hymns may be sung, an ardas is offered for the successful completion of the path, and karah prasad is distributed. Ardas and karah prasad are offered again as the reading reaches its midway point, and a similar service closes it. An akhand path may be held in a gurdwara, or in a family home, where the Guru Granth Sahib is installed with ceremony in a room prepared for the occasion, and the reading fills the house for two days and nights. Exactly when the custom began is not recorded; it is often traced, as a matter of conjecture, to the troubled eighteenth century, when Sikhs were scattered by persecution.

When is an Akhand Path held, and how is it different from a Sahej Path?

Important days on the Sikh calendar, including gurpurabs, are marked with akhand paths in gurdwaras, and family celebrations and ceremonies centre on them too: a birth, a wedding, a recovery, and equally a bereavement, when families draw comfort from it and funeral observances conclude with a completed reading. A sahej path is the same complete reading of the Guru Granth Sahib, but done at the reader's own pace, alone or with others, over days or weeks, with breaks allowed. The akhand path's unbroken flow is the whole point of its name.