INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

tion conducted the cremation ceremony on the first and the third Sunday of each
month in Ludhiana, and the second and the fourth at Goindwal Sahib. The time was
not haphazardly chosen. To ensure that the fire had properly consumed all the pages
and the ashes had cooled off in a natural way, thirteen days were to pass before the
door to the crematoria was opened. In the meantime the congregation would arrange
an open reading of the whole Guru Granth Sahib (Khulla path) in the adjacent gurdwara
and adjust the auspicious ending to the thirteenth day following a cremation.
The voluntary workers therefore commuted between Ludhiana and Goindwal Sahib
every second weekend, and in the morning of the thirteenth day collected ashes to be
immersed in water and perform another fire sacrifice on the same spot the day after.
According to internal statistics from year 2000 about 150 scriptures were cremated
each month at the centre in Ludhiana and 800 scriptures at Goindwal Sahib. 415
But far from all texts sent to the centers have been consigned to the fire. When
the books arrive a team of five Amritdhari Sikhs will check the pages twice and, in
case the texts are flawless, they will be exchanged with new cover and donated to
some gurdwara or Sikh organization. To burn unblemished scriptures is considered a
sacrilegious act, comparable to the cremation of a human who has not yet completed
a life-time. The routine inspection also aims at preserving handwritten manuscripts of
historical value that will be forwarded to the reference library at Amritsar.
In more recent years the association under leadership of Narinder Singh has expanded
it activities to other areas in northern India. By 2004 Gurdwara Majnu da Talla,
near river Yamuna in the outskirts of Delhi, had built a crematorium and regularly
organized the fire ritual. 416 In the years to follow the organization established two
additional cremation centers in the village Nathwan (Tohana) in Haryana and the
village Ramgarh Bhullar (Jagraon) in the Punjab. At the time of this writing the association
is totally in charge of five places for the Agan Bhet Seva, four of which provide
special gurdwaras for the preservation of texts. To meet the increasing popularity,
scriptural cremations are usually arranged in Gurdwara Majnu da Talla in Delhi on the
first Sunday of each month, at Prabhu Simran Kender in Ludhiana and Goindwal Sahib
on the second Sunday, and at Ramgarh Bhullar and Nathwan on the third Sunday.
Since Goindwal Sahib has become a focal point for public display, the fire ritual is
organized there also on the fourth Sunday of each month. 417
A contributory factor to the expanding popularity of the centres seems to be
found in the strong emphasis on cremations of Guru Granth Sahib as a respectful seva
that engenders moral values and spiritual benefits. Daily the organization around the
centres engages a large number of devotees who sew clothes for the scripture, organ-
415
As the statistics inform, between 1988 and 2000 about 80000 scriptures were cremated in
Ludhiana and between year 1996 and 2000 40000 at Goindwal. In addition some 2.5 million
gutkas and sanchis have been burnt (Ajit, 2000-09-18).
416
Gurdwara Majnu da Talla, literally “the hillock of Majnu”, is a historical Sikh shrine dedicated
to a devout Muslim hermit who met with Guru Nanak and was blessed with enlightenment
(Randhir 1990: 64 ‒ 66, Gurmukh Singh 1995: 279 ‒ 280).
417
Phone-conversation with Param Singh, president of the Agan Bhet Seva, January 2007.
227
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008