Guru Granth Sahib Ji is known as the 11th and the last guru of Sikhs. The Granth Sahib is not just a holy book of Sikhism but it is the eternal form of god which Sikhs worship. All the copies of the Adi Granth (first Punjabi book) are the same and called Saroop. The first word of the holy scripture is called Mool Mantra. The First line of the Sacred text is-"Ik Onkar sat-Nam Karata purakh nirabha'u niravair akal murat ajuni saibhan guru prasad" which means "There is one supreme being, the eternal reality, the creator, without fear and devoid of enmity, immortal, never incarnated, self-existent, known by grace through the True Guru."
1. Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth guru of Sikhs compiled the Holy book in 1604 after which it was placed in Harminder Sahib(Golden Temple). Baba Budha Singh Ji was the first Granthi also called recitor of the Granth (in pics: Guru Arjan Dev Ji).
2. The prefix, Guru, is used to mark respect for all the ten Sikh Gurus of Sikhism from Guru Nanak Ji to Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Before his demise in 1708, the tenth guru (Guru Gobind Singh Ji) declared that there will be no more human gurus in Sikhism and the status of “Guru” will pass on for all time to the Guru Granth Sahib Ji (in pics: Guru Nanak Dev Ji).
3. The Holy Writ is the living guru for the people of the Sikh religion and is written in Gurmukhi. The Granth is considered as the word given by God in the form of shabads, couplets, hymns, poems, and other religious text. The Holy book consists of 1403 pages, of these- 974 shabads belong to Guru Nanak, 62 to the second guru, 907 to the third, 679 to the fourth, and 115 to the ninth guru. Apart from these, couplets of some Hindu and Muslim composers have also been included in it who believed that God is one. These include some works of Kabir, Ravidas and Baba Farid. Of these, maximum 541 couplets are from Kabir.Along with this, the lines of some composers of backward community have also been included which shows that Sikhism has included everyone (Sant Kabir Das Ji).
4. Anybody from any caste or religion removes their shoes and wash their hands before entering the Gurudwara where the Holy Book is placed.
5. People cover their head and body inside the Gurudwara in the presence of their Guru, to mark respect.
(in pics: Guru Granth Sahib Ji at Golden Temple Gurudwara).
6. The Guru Sahib is placed on an upraised platform which is called Takht and the Sangat sits on the floor inside the gurudwara which marks the higher authority of the Granth. The Guru Granth Sahib Ji is not only just worshipped but also given the utmost respect of living guru by performing Holy ceremonies like Sukhasan which means to attain a position of comfort at night and Parkash which means light/ awakening in the morning.
7. Sikhs never turn their back to the holy textbook. A ceremonial reader called granthi is appointed for reading the Guru sahib's book and chaur sahib is waved above the Granth sahib by an attendant of the gurudwara.
