By Sunil Sonkar
Mussoorie, 27 Nov: The birth anniversary of Guru Nanak was celebrated with great pomp and show, here, today. On this occasion, Shabad Kirtan was performed in Gurudwaras and Langar was organised. After Ardaas, Shabad Kirtan was organised in the Gurudwara under the aegis of Guru Singh Sabha, Gandhi Chowk and Landour, in which a large number of Sikh families along with other people participated. They also took a pledge to follow the path shown by Guru Nanak Dev.
Councillors Jasbir Kaur and Baldev Singh said that the birth anniversary of the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev, is being celebrated across the country as Prakash Parv. Guru Nanak, the first Guru of the Sikhs, had an equal influence on Hindus and Muslims during his time. Along with preaching the eradication of social and life-related evils, he showed a spiritual path to attain God which was easy for the common people and did not contain any kind of rituals or tricks. The birth date of Guru Nanak Dev is considered to be the day of Kartik Purnima which falls 15 days after Diwali. People of Sikh community celebrate his birthday on this day as Purab Parv or Prakash Utsav. They recalled that Guru Nanak was born in the year 1469 on the day of Kartik Purnima at a place called Talwandi, which is a part of Punjab province of Pakistan. He used to raise questions on superstitions and ostentation. Many miraculous incidents happened during his time due to which the people of his village started giving him the status of a divine soul. Guru Nanak was a philosopher, social reformer, poet, householder, yogi and patriot.
