Guru Nanak Gurpurab · Prakash Purab Festival The prakash purab of Guru Nanak, the first Guru, born in 1469 at Rai Bhoi di Talwandi, which is Nankana Sahib now.
The name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Guru Nanak Gurpurab · Prakash Purab
- हिन्दी
- गुरु नानक प्रकाश पर्व
- ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
- ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ ਦੇਵ ਜੀ ਦਾ ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼ ਪੁਰਬ
Only the names actually in use are listed. A blank script is not an omission: the day may simply not be kept there, or be kept under a different festival's name.
UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place: a tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
Looking for the calendar this day belongs to
This day does not fall again in the next three years at this place. A few days are tied to the solar month rather than to the civil year, so a year can hold two of them or none.
What the day is
The prakash purab of Guru Nanak, the first Guru, born in 1469 at Rai Bhoi di Talwandi, which is Nankana Sahib now. It is the largest gurpurab of the year: the akhand path is read over the two days before, the nagar kirtan goes out the day before behind the panj pyare, and the diwan begins before dawn with Asa di Var. Jatha cross to Nankana Sahib and Kartarpur for it, and the langar runs in every gurdwara from morning to night.
- Deity
- Guru Nanak
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
The hour
The rule in words
Kartik Puranmashi, the full moon of Kartik, at sunrise. This is a Bikrami date rather than a Nanakshahi one, so it moves through November.
The fast
No fast is kept; the Sikh tradition sets no store by fasting. The langar runs through the day and everyone eats it sitting in the same rows, and karah prasad is given out at the end of the diwan.
Where the regions differ
The gurdwaras of the Punjab, Delhi, the historic takhts and the diaspora keep the gurpurabs alike, with an akhand path over the two days before and a nagar kirtan behind the panj pyare. The Nanakshahi calendar of 2003 fixed several of these to Gregorian dates and the revert of 2010 put some of them back on the Bikrami moon, so the date can differ between the SGPC calendar and a local sangat; traditions vary, and the gurdwara notice is the one to follow.
Fixing a day for it
The muhurtham rules that go with this festival
A temple visit, or the first darshan at a new temple. No weekday is ruled out: Tuesday belongs to Murugan and the Amman, Saturday to Perumal and Sani, so the day usually follows the deity rather than the almanac. Ashtami and Chaturdasi are the two tithis held back for darshan, with the standing exceptions of Sivaratri on Krishna Chaturdasi and Kala Bhairava Ashtami, which are kept on those very days. Rahu kaal, Yamaganda and Gulika kaal are not scored here; the panchangam page prints them for the day you pick, and most families simply wait them out.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it. A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.