Indore
Prakash Parv of Sri Guru Ram Das was celebrated in Indore on Sunday. The celebrations saw large gathering as devotees thronged in Gurdwaras and events.
Gurdwaras were illuminated on the occasion of Prakash Parv of 4th Sikh Guru, Sri Guru Ramdas. Devotees visited the Gurudwara Niranjanpur in Indore to celebrate the occasion with fireworks.
A son-in-law of the third Guru, Amar Das, Ram Das was remembered for strengthening the institution of langar (community kitchen) and manjis (missionary centres) in attempts to consolidate the foundations of a minority Sikh community in the face of powerful Mughal politics and hegemonic Brahminical traditions.
Remember the lesson of equality
Baba Avatar Singh from Patiala, Punjab was the key note speaker. He said, “In the world today, we need to remember the basic essential lesson of equality that Guru Ram Das taught us.” He cited the formation of laavan and equality of men and women quoted by the Guru.
“Guru Ram Das gave a message of selfless service to the humanity without any discrimination of gender, caste, colour, creed and country. It’s time to remember that,” Singh said.
He added that the Guru had emphasised on leading simple living and high thinking.
The wedding hymn
Devender Singh Gandhi, community spokesperson, said, “Guru Ram Das’s most famous compositions, the most well-known is his wedding hymn that formed the basis of the Sikh wedding ceremony called Anand Karaj.”
He explained that this ceremony is centred on the laavaan — four stanzas that the fourth Guru had composed. “The hymn also emerged to be the focal point on which the British-era Anand Marriage Act of 1909 was later formed,” Lakhveer Singh, a community member, said.
