The palki sahib is the canopied palanquin in which the Guru Granth Sahib is carried, and in many gurdwaras the canopied structure in which it is installed for the day, and it is the throne of the scripture treated as the living Guru.
Carried and enthroned
The scripture is carried in procession on the palki, borne as an honoured sovereign is borne, and each day it is brought from its place of rest and installed on a raised and canopied seat, the palki, for the hours of worship, then carried back and laid to rest at night, so the volume is enthroned and attended through a daily round modelled on the service of a living person of the highest honour. The canopy over it, the raised platform, and the cushions on which it rests all belong to this treatment.
The daily service
The installing of the Guru Granth Sahib on the palki in the morning and its ceremonial putting to rest at night are among the ordinary devotional acts of the gurdwara, performed with prayer and reverence, so the throne is not a fixed piece of furniture only but the centre of a daily service rendered to the scripture. The whole arrangement, canopy, palanquin, whisk and cloths, expresses the Sikh conviction that the scripture is the living Guru and is to be honoured as such, and the palki sahib, as the seat and the vehicle of that presence, is the most visible sign in the gurdwara of the enthroned authority of the Guru Granth Sahib.