The rumala sahib are the cloths in which the Guru Granth Sahib is wrapped and covered, and they belong to the treatment of the scripture as a living and honoured presence.
Wrapping and draping
A set of rumala sahib covers the volume when it is closed, drapes the seat on which it rests, and adorns the space around it, so that the scripture is clothed and its resting place made fitting, in the way the person of an honoured sovereign would be attended. The cloths are often of rich fabric, embroidered and fine, and their provision and changing are acts of service and devotion, the offering of a set of rumala being a common way for a Sikh to make a gift to the gurdwara.
Part of the court of honour
Like the canopy, the raised seat and the whisk, the rumala sahib follow from the standing of the Guru Granth Sahib as the living Guru, and they are among the marks of royal and reverent honour arranged around it, so that the scripture is not stored but enthroned and attended. The clothing of the volume in fine cloths expresses the same conviction as the other elements of its ceremonial care, that the book holds the authority and the presence of the Gurus. The rumala are thus both a practical covering that protects the scripture and a devotional offering, and they take their meaning from the honour paid to the Guru present in the volume they wrap.