INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

congregate in the scriptural hospice and present an additional supplication before
“the last journey” (antim yatra), or the actual transportation of texts to the crematoria
will start. Men and women will break up into gender-divided groups of five people
who will take turns at carrying the robed texts on their heads, one volume at a time.
As customary for any conveyance of Guru Granth Sahib, five armed men (panj pyare)
in traditional dresses will lead the way and the line of bearers is also accompanied
with people holding umbrellas and swaying peacock feathers over the texts. All will
chant the divine name (Satnam Vahiguru) during the procession, and when they reach
the cremation chamber exclaim the Sikh jaikara (Jo Bole So Nihal – Sat Sri Akal). The
solemnized transportation will continue, sometimes for several hours, until all scriptures
have been moved to the crematoria and placed on iron beds side by side.
During the ceremony I observed and video-taped in Ludhiana on an October
Sunday in 2000, Narinder Singh uncovered the scriptural robes and then soaked the
pages of all the volumes with clarified butter
(ghi), while an attendant was swaying a
whisk over the book covers. Smaller prayer
books and loose sheets placed on the opposite
side of the scriptures were sprinkled
with the fluid. After the last anointment, all
scriptures were covered with colorful robes.
Narinder Singh gathered the whole congregation
in a semi-circle outside the entrance
of the Angitha Sahib to present an Ardas in
which he mentioned the work completed
and all who have participated in the selfless
work (seva). Immediately thereafter Narinder
Singh lit a large steel-lighter, adorned with
the khanda sign, and entered the chamber to
offer the fire at different places in the room.
At this juncture all participants were loudly
crying out the Sikh jaikara repeatedly as the
fire increased. When all the rows of scriptures
were in flames Narinder Singh made
his exit and closed the door to the chamber.
Ceremonial transportation of scriptures and
prayer books to the cremation chamber
Again he performed a final prayer in front of the sealed door before the ceremony
ended in a collective Vairagi kirtan ‒ the typical devotional Sikh music for human
death ceremonies – for about an hour. The ceremony concluded with the serving of
food from the communal kitchen (langar).
At four in the afternoon thirteen days later the door to Angitha Sahib was
opened again. With wooden sticks Narinder Singh and the attendants collected the
ashes of the burnt scriptures in large plastic bags. The iron grills were washed and
scraped with water and milk. The bags with the remnants were carried on the heads
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008