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Sikhs celebrate 540th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak

     Amritsar: The 540th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh Guru, is being celebrated across the nation today. Devotees thronged Gurudwaras to pay their obeisance Hundreds of devotees thronged to the Golden Temple early this morning to pay obeisance at the Sikhs' holiest shrine. "Devotees are coming in large numbers to offer prayers. Everybody is excited and they are thronging the temple in large numbers," said Avtar Singh Makkar, President, Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee. Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of the Sikh religion, was born in November 1469 at Talwandi, now called Nankana Sahib. The anniversaries of Sikh Gurus are known as Gurpurabs (festivals), and celebrated by Sikhs with devotion. Gurpurabs mark the culmination of Prabhat Pheris, the early morning procession that starts from the gurdwaras and then goes around localities singing shabads (hymns). The celebrations also include the three-day Akhand path, during which the Guru Granth Sahib is read continuously, from beginning to end without a break. On the day of the festival, the Granth Sahib is also carried in a procession on a float, decorated with flowers, throughout a village or city.
- Nov 13, 2008