On Sunday, thousands of devotees walked from Gurdwara Sri Dashmesh Darbar (Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar) to Sri Guru Singh Sabha (Dadar), starting celebrations for Guru Nanak Dev Jayanti that will be celebrated on Tuesday.
Born in 1469, Guru Nanak Dev is the founder of the Sikh religion. Worldwide, people celebrate the day by doing kirtans, sewa (service), taking out rallies and serving langar. “The main celebrations are on Tuesday. On that day, we will be having kirtans and prayers from 6am onwards,” said Manmohan Singh, president of Sri Guru Singh Sabha which is considered an umbrella body of the Gurudwaras in the city.
Speaking about the significance of the walks (nagar kirtans), Mr Singh said, “These essentially would mark the start of the jayanti. In earlier times there was no way to inform people and this was also a way in which people would get to know about the jayanti. In present times, it is a show of unity.” “Such walks are held every year. From children to elders, all walk.
Walks will be held across the city
Tomorrow such walks will be done at a smaller scale, by each of the Gurdwaras across Mumbai,” one of the participants, Mandeep Singh Ladi said. Simultaneously, there were also kirtans and samagam held at the Shri Dewanchand Ramsaran Compound (Wadala) where 'kirtankars' had come to recite kirtans. Since 2017, Guru Nanak Jayanti celebrations have moved to Wadala from Garodia Nagar where it used to take place.
This year too it will be held at Wadala where Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is expected to attend. Speakers and kirtankars associated with Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), Jullundhar, Amritsar, and Delhi will be reciting kirtans.
“On Tuesday, besides kirtans and prayer services, we will have a medical camp, education camp, counselling session and job placement cells. Langar will be served from 11am onwards till it lasts. Around 40,000-50,000 people are expected to attend,” said Mr Singh.
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