City’s Sikhs prepare for Guru Nanak Jayanti
Navnit Chudasama, a Gujarati resident of Dahisar, had created an 8-feet replica of the Golden Temple as a home-pandal during the Ganpati festival this year, after which he gave it to a neighbouring gurudwara. As the Sikh community prepares to celebrate Guru Nanak Jayanti on Wednesday, the members of the gurudwara have displayed the structure with lights and decorations within its premises, representing inclusiveness intrinsic to the community.
Navnit Chudasama, a Gujarati resident of Dahisar, had created an 8-feet replica of the Golden Temple as a home-pandal during the Ganpati festival this year, after which he gave it to a neighbouring gurudwara. As the Sikh community prepares to celebrate Guru Nanak Jayanti on Wednesday, the members of the gurudwara have displayed the structure with lights and decorations within its premises, representing inclusiveness intrinsic to the community.
"Our work is before you and s“The main reason why we decided to have a special display of the replica is to promote the meaning of togetherness, which is what our religion propounds,” said Sarabjeet Singh, member of Dahisar’s Kalgidhar Sabha gurudwara.
Families and gurudwara members are preparing to celebrate the birth anniversary of their first guru and the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Sahib.
The Aroras will wake up early to visit the gurudwara for the akhand path (reading of the holy book).
“We don’t celebrate the day as Guru Nanak’s birthday, as we don’t believe that a saint is born or he dies. We celebrate it as Prakash Din (a day of celebration),” said Harpal Singh Arora, a Goregaon resident.
The Guru Singh Sabha, the central body of the city’s gurudwaras is conducting its annual celebrations at the civic body’s ground in Ghatkopar with as many as 1 lakh people expected to visit on Wednesday.
“It is a three-day programme where we offer langar, comprising dal, sabzi, roti and sweets, and also bring in preachers from Punjab on the occasion,” said Manmohan Singh, seceratry, Guru Singh Sabha.
“We have also invited the police commissioner to be part of the celebration and we plan to have a community update with him to discuss all the work done by the community so far and the various issues,” he said.
Sakinaka resident Surjit Singh will volunteer at the langar at the Ghatkopar venue with his wife. “It is our duty to offer our services in whichever we can, and we will first volunteer at the local gurudwara before heading to Ghatkopar, where my wife will cook and I will help with serving the food,” said Singh.