🪔 Guru Nanak Jayanti (Prakash Purab / Gurpurab) Puja Vidhi — step by step
Not a puja procedure but the order of the celebration — joining the sangat at the gurdwara.
How to do Guru Nanak Jayanti (Prakash Purab / Gurpurab) — the steps
- The Akhand Path begins at the gurdwara two days before the festival — sit in or listen to one of the reading sessions if you can.
- Early morning Prabhat Pheri — singing shabads through the neighbourhood; many diaspora communities hold it between homes on the weekend.
- Go to the gurdwara — head covered, shoes outside, hands and feet washed; bow before the Guru Granth Sahib and receive karah prasad.
- Listen to kirtan and katha; join the ardas; if a Nagar Kirtan goes out, walk with the sangat behind the Panj Pyare.
- Do seva — help cook, serve or wash up in the langar; that is held to be the truest devotion of the day.
- In the evening light lamps at home and at the gurdwara; read or tell the family the sakhis (life stories) of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
Puja samagri checklist
Nothing special is needed from home — devotion and a spirit of service; a practical list below.
- A scarf/chunni to cover the head (required in the gurdwara)
- An offering for langar/karah prasad — flour, ghee, sugar, lentils or money (ask what the gurdwara needs)
- Lamps/candles and string lights for the home
- A book or pictures of Guru Nanak's sakhis for the children
- Plain, comfortable clothes for langar seva
- Abroad: the time and route of your city's Nagar Kirtan — from the gurdwara notice
Karah prasad and langar
At the gurdwara karah prasad (a halwa of flour, ghee and sugar in equal parts) is given to all after the ardas. Langar is simple, sattvik food — dal, vegetables, roti, rice, kheer — eaten together in one row.
- Karah prasad (flour, desi ghee, sugar — 1:1:1)
- Langar: dal, vegetables, roti/rice, kheer
- At home: kheer, Punjabi sweets (pinni, laddoo)
- Tea with pakoras/halwa after the Prabhat Pheri — local custom
Rules — do's and don'ts
✅ Do
- Cover your head in the gurdwara, leave shoes outside, keep quiet
- Lend a hand in seva — cooking, serving, cleaning
- Receive karah prasad with both hands joined; do not leave any
- Donate according to the gurdwara's need — groceries, money or time
- Tell the children the sakhis of Guru Nanak Dev Ji — let the meaning reach them
❌ Don't
- Tobacco, alcohol and intoxicants — strictly forbidden in the gurdwara
- No distinction of caste, faith or rank in the langar, and no asking to sit apart
- Do not sit with your back to the Guru Granth Sahib or stretch your feet towards it
- No showy feasts or fireworks contests — simplicity is the spirit
- Do not ignore traffic/volunteer instructions at the Nagar Kirtan
Vrat katha
Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born in 1469 at Talwandi to Mehta Kalu and Mata Tripta. From childhood he was drawn to the company of saints and to contemplation; the sakhi of the 'Sacha Sauda' is famous — with the twenty rupees h… Read the full katha →
Frequently asked questions
When is Guru Nanak Jayanti in {Y}?
The date at the top is this year's Kartik Purnima, worked out from the local sunrise and moonrise of your city; abroad it can differ from India by a day, so also check your gurdwara's announcement.
Is Guru Nanak Jayanti always on Kartik Purnima?
In the prevailing Nanakshahi tradition, yes — which is why it falls on a changing date in October–November each year. Some scholars place the birth in Vaisakh, but the public festival is kept on Kartik Purnima.
What is the difference between Gurpurab and Prakash Purab?
None — Gurpurab (the Guru's festival) and Prakash Purab (prakash = birth, light) are two names for the same day. On Kartik Purnima the Hindu calendar also has Dev Deepawali, so in north India both celebrations light up the same evening.
I am not Sikh — may I visit the gurdwara and eat langar?
Yes, everyone is welcome — cover your head, leave shoes outside and sit in the row with everyone for langar. That is the very message of the festival.
When is the Nagar Kirtan held abroad?
Usually on the weekend (Sunday) nearest the festival — check your local gurdwara committee's notice; on the date itself the gurdwara holds the bhog of the Akhand Path and the diwan.
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