The Founder, and the Greatest of the Gurpurabs

Guru Nanak Gurpurab celebrates the birth of Guru Nanak (1469-1539), the founder of Sikhism and first of its ten Gurus, and it is the most important of the gurpurabs, the festivals commemorating the Gurus. Nanak taught the oneness of God (Ik Onkar), the equality of all people regardless of caste, creed or gender, honest work, sharing with others, and constant remembrance of the divine Name; his life and hymns, gathered in the Sikh scripture, are the foundation of the tradition. Though he was born in the month of Kartik (Baisakh by some historical reckonings) in the village now called Nankana Sahib, in present-day Pakistan, the festival is by long convention kept on the full moon of Kartik (October-November).

Sikhs mark the day as the birthday of the one who first opened the path they follow, and it is observed by Sikh communities worldwide as the high point of the religious year, often with a scale and public visibility beyond the other gurpurabs. Its keeping is an affirmation not only of Nanak the person but of the message, of one God and one humanity, that he is understood to have brought.