Guru Nanaks Birthday - (Festivals in India)

Bakri-Id - Festival of Sacrifice - Muslim
Buddha Jayanti - Buddha's Birthday - Buddhist/Hindu
Diwali - Festival of Light - Hindu
Dussehra or Dusshera - Lord Ram - Hindu
Guru Nanaks Birthday
Holi - Festival of Colour - Hindu
Kumbh Mela - Festival of the Pot -Hindu
Meelad-Id - The prophet Muhammed's birth and death - Muslim
Onam - South Indian celebration of good over evil - Hindu
Rakhi - Sibling closenes - Hindu/Many

Guru Nanak Jayanti

 

 

Sikhs differ from Hindus in that they believe in one God. They believe that he is formless and so not worship idols. Some people alter this to state that the Sikh's see Hindu Gods as 'visions' of the one God. There are 10 Gurus who were responsible for shaping the religion. Each of their birthdays or Guruparabs are celebrated. Guru Nanak was the first and founding guru, born on 20th October 1469. The celebration date is based on the Hindu calendar and is the full moon in the month of Kartik - usually November.

 

 

 

The celebration is generally similar for all Gurpurabs; only the hymns are different. The birthday celebration usually lasts three days. Generally two days before the birthday, Akhand Path (a forty-eight-hour non-stop reading of the Guru Granth Sahib , the holy book of the Sikhs) is held in the Gurdwaras. Processions, martial arts displays and a large communal lunch are al part of the celebrations.

Sikhs will don the kirpan, a steel dagger, for most celebrations. The Kirpan is one of the 5 K's that were used from 1699 by Guru Govind Singh to make Sikh's stand out. Again I have had this story told in relation to battle to avoid fighting the wrong enemy in close combat or in forests. The other K's are Kesh (uncut hair & beard), Kangh (Comb), Kura (steel wrist band), Kurcha (underwear). The 1699 date stands out as it is cited, by Sikh friends who have cut their hair, as not a religious requirement.