Date:06/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/06/stories/2009010660430300.htm

Kerala - Kochi

Guru birth anniversary

Staff Reporter

— Photo: H. Vibhu

HOLY OCCASION: Children praying at Gurudwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha at Thevara on Monday on the occasion of Guru Gobind Singh’s birth anniversary celebrations.

KOCHI: The Sikh community here celebrated the 343rd birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh at the Gurudwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha at Thevara on Monday.

The celebrations had started on December 28 with Nagar Kirtan by the Sikh community every day from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. Reciting the holy book Sri Guru Granth Sahib started on Sunday and on Monday evening, hymns and Gurubani kirtans were sung by children and elder Raghis.

Langar (community kitchen) was arranged after the prayers. Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th and last of the Gurus, proclaimed the holy book as the voice of all the preceptors, discontinuing the system of selecting a Guru from the community.

Born in 1666, he established the Khalsa, changing the Sikhs into a “saint soldier” order with special symbols and sacraments.