MrSikhNet

Today we celebrated the Guru Gaddi Day of Siri Guru Granth Sahib; The day when Siri Guru Granth Sahib became the living Guru for the Sikhs. This is one of the days that we have a special Nagar kirtan with the sangat. We normally start at Sat Want Singh’s house for a big sangat breakfast. Then the Siri Guru Granth Sahib is brought by the Panj Piaray and carried in a procession with Kirtan and Gatka down the street towards the Gurdwara. It’s always a wonderfull occasion. Today was especially beautiful with all the fall orange/yellow colors, bright blue sky, and warm sun.

"Guru Gobind Singh installed this expanded version of the Adi Granth as Guru on October 20, l708. This day is celebrated today as Guru Gadi Day. At the time of his death, he declared that the Word of God embodied in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib was to be Guru for all time. He said, "O Beloved Khalsa, let any who desire to behold me, behold the Guru Granth. Obey the Granth Sahib, for it is the visible body of the Guru. Let any who desire to meet me, diligently search its Bani." Thus the Word of God, which has manifested as Guru in Nanak, and had passed through the ten incarnations of Guru, was now returned to its form as the Word, the Bani, the Shabad." - Excerpt from SikhiWiki.org

 
Below are some pictures from the Nagar Kirtan. Today I took pictures mostly of the Panj Piaray. I love the way that the angled sword and the panj piaray fit together. I took lots of pictures of Siri Chand Singh (pictured below). I love the way that his dark skin contrasts with his turban and the edge of the sword in front of his face. When you take similar pictures all the time (like I do) you have to find new "angles" to make it interesting. Otherwise it just looks like the same pictures over and over.

Guru Dham Singh taking a break from doing Gatka during the Nagar Kirtan. He just became a father of a beautiful girl (Shanti Kaur). One of the many new Sikh babies in Espanola.