Monday 11 June 2012
Friday 4 May 2012
Guru Nanak Dev
Guru Nanak Dev Ji (Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; Hindi: गुरु नानक, Urdu: گرونانک [ˈɡʊɾu ˈnɑnək] Gurū Nānak) (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539 at Talwandi, [[Pakistan] was the Founder of the religion of Sikhism and the first of the Ten Sikh Guru Ji'.
The Sikhs believe that all subsequent Guru Ji' possessed Guru Nanak Dev Ji' divinity and religious authority, and were named "Nanak" in the line of Succession.
Early life
Guru Nanak was born on 15 April 1469, now celebrated as Prakash Divas of Guru Nanak Dev, into a Hindu Khatri family in the village of Rāi Bhōi dī Talwandī, now called Nankana Sahib, near Lahore, Pakistan. Today, his birthplace is marked by Gurdwara Janam Asthan. Some are of the opinion that 20 October is his enlightenment day rather than his birthday. His father, Kalyan Chand Das Bedi, popularly referred to as Kalu Mehta, was the patwari (accountant) of crop revenue for the village of Talwandi in the employment of a Muslim landlord of that area, Rai Bular Bhatti.[5] Guru Nanak’s mother was Tripta Devi and he had one elder sister, Bibi Nanaki who became a spiritual figure in her own right.
Nanaki married Jai Ram and went to his town of Sultanpur, where he was the steward (modi) to Daulat Khan Lodi, the eventual governor of Lahore. Guru Nanak was attached to his older sister, and, in traditional Indian fashion, he followed her to Sultanpur to live with her and her husband. Guru Nanak also found work with Daulat Khan, when he was around 16 years old. This was a formative time for Guru Nanak, as the Puratan Janam Sakhi suggests, and in his numerous allusions to governmental structure in his hymns, most likely gained at this time.
Commentaries on his life give details of his blossoming awareness from a young age. At the age of five, Guru Nanak is said to have voiced interest in divine subjects. As was the custom, at age seven, his father, Kalu Mehta, enrolled him at the village school.[7] Notable lore recounts that as a child Guru Nanak astonished his teacher by describing the implicit symbolism of the first letter of the alphabet. Written from top to bottom, the Aleph is an almost straight, vertical stroke in Persian or Arabic, resembling the numeral one, as denoting the unity or oneness of God.[8] Other childhood accounts refer to strange and miraculous events related to Guru Nanak. Rai Bular reported seeing a large, white King Cobra spreading its fan right in front of the sleeping child’s face to shield the child from the harsh light of the afternoon sun. From that day Rai Bular looked upon young Nanak as a manifestation of the divine, his firm faith in this conviction never wavered.
Biographies
The earliest biographical sources on the life of Guru Nanak recognised today are the Janamsākhīs (life accounts) and the vārs (expounding verses) of the scribe Bhai Gurdas. The most popular Janamsākhī were allegedly written by a close companion of the Guru, Bhai Bala.[9]However, the writing style and language employed have left scholars such as Max Arthur Macauliffe certain that they were composed after his death.
Bhai Gurdas, a purported scribe of the Gurū Granth Sahib, also wrote about Guru Nanak’s life in his vārs. Although these too were compiled some time after Guru Nanak’s time, they are less detailed than the Janamsākhīs. The Janamsākhīs recount in minute detail the circumstances of the birth of the guru. The Janamsakhis state that at his birth an astrologer, who came to write his horoscope, insisted on seeing the child. On seeing the infant, he is said to have worshipped him with clasped hands and remarked that "I regret that I shall never live to see young Guru Nanak as an adultbum.”
Nankana Sahib
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Nankana Sahib (Shahmukhi: ننکانہ صاحب), earlier known as Rai-Bhoi-Di-Talwandi, is a city in the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is named after the first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak Dev, the central figure in Sikhism who was born here, so it is a city of high historic and religious value and is a popular pilgrimage site for Sikhs from all over the world. It is located about 80 kilometers south west of Lahore and about 75 kilometres east of Faisalabad, with a population of approximately 70,000. It is also the capital of Nankana Sahib District andTehsil.
History
Earlier the township was known as Rai Bhoi di Talwandi and was named as Nankana Sahib after the birth of Guru Nanak Dev. The Janam Asthan Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, originally constructed in around 1600 A.D. was renovated in the year 1819–20 A.D. by Gian-Punjab Maharaja Jassa Singh Ramgarhia The Sikh Conference of Panjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Peshawar, Kangra and Hazara.
During the Akali movement, on 20 February 1921, Narain Das, the Udasi mahant (clergy) of the gurdwara at Nankana Sahib, ordered his men to fire on Akali protesters, leading to theNankana massacre. The firing was widely condemned, and an agitation was launched until the control of this historic Janam Asthan Gurdwara was restored to the Sikhs. Again in the 1930s and 40's the Sikhs added more buildings and more architectural design.
The area around Nankana Sahib was formerly a tehsil of Sheikhupura District. In May 2005, the provincial government decided to raise the status of Nankana Sahib to that of a district as a way of promoting development in the area.
The development of Nankana Sahib, the birth place of Guru Nanak Dev in Pakistan is one of the numerous projects by Punjab Government. The work of development of Nankana Sahib Resort to host and entertain local and international visitors is almost complete. According to reports, there are plans to construct a 100 Acre University as well as hospitals and health care facilities by the descendents of Rai Bular.
In 2007, the Pakistan government announced a plan to set up a university on Sikh religion and culture at Nankana Sahib, the birth place of Guru Nanak. "The international Guru Nanak University planned at Nankana Sahib would have the best architecture, curricula and research centre on Sikh religion and culture", Chairman of Pakistan's Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), Gen (Retd) Zulfikar Ali Khan, said.
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