Important Facts For Prelims
Parkash Purab
- 20 Aug 2020
- 2 min read
Why in News
The Prime Minister of India greeted the people on the occasion of the Parkash Purab Utsav of the holy book Guru Granth Sahib (19th August 2020).
Key Points
- The first Prakash Purab Utsav marked the installation of Guru Granth Sahib in Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden temple, in 1604.
- Granth Sahib is the sacred scripture of Sikhism (religion). It is a collection of nearly 6,000 hymns of the Sikh Gurus (religious leaders) and various early and medieval saints of different religions and castes.
- It is the central object of worship in all gurdwaras and is accorded the reverence paid to a living Guru.
- The first version of the book was compiled by the 5th Sikh Guru Arjan at Amritsar in 1604 CE. He included his own hymns and those of his predecessors, the Gurus Nanak, Angad, Amar Das, and Ram Das, and a selection of devotional songs of both Hindu and Islamic saints (notably the poet Kabīr).
- In 1704 CE the 10th and last Guru, Gobind Singh, added the hymns of his predecessor, Guru Tegh Bahadur (the 6th - Hargobind, 7th- Har Rai, and 8th - Hari Krishen- Gurus did not write hymns), and enjoined that after his own death the Granth would take the place of the Guru.
- The language is mostly Punjabi or Hindi, interspersed with Marathi, Persian, and Arabic words.
- After the death of Guru Gobind Singh, his hymns and other writings were compiled into a book known as the Dasam Granth.
