INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

hand path of the Guru Granth Sahib after the cremation which, similar to shraddh
ceremonies, had the function to overcome the mourning period and restore social
order at the house. Akhand path was by some interlocutors interpreted as an enactment
of good karma that would provide assistance to the soul on its journey to the
divine court and make sure that it would not get caught in a betwixt-and-between
state and create trouble for relatives left behind.
The forty-eight hour long Akhand path should preferably start on the eleventh
day after death and be completed on the thirteenth, but it may just as well start on
any odd numbered and auspicious date from the fifth day after death and onwards
(i.e., day 5 ‒ 7, 7 ‒ 9, 9 ‒ 11). If possible the mourning family usually tries to adjust
the completion of the recitation (bhog) to a Sunday when shops are closed and most
people are free from work. The time can be changed according to the convenience
and should not interfere with major festivals or religious programs. When the Akhand
path comes to an end all relatives and friends will be invited to the gurdwara in the
afternoon to hear the pleasurable ending and take part in Antim Ardas, a last prayer
for the deceased. By dressing up in white clothes, turbans and shawls, and participating
in the program, the congregation expresses their condolences to the mourners. A
couple of days beforehand the family send out invitation cards and put up an announcement
about the last prayer on the blackboard in the gurdwara. According to
the standard format of these notifications the name and the exact time of death of the
deceased will mentioned along with information about the day and time for the conclusion
of Akhand path and the last prayer “for the peace of her/his soul”. Only the
closest male mourners undersign the announcement.
The two hour long program is usually arranged in the afternoon and consists of
different parts. To begin with the mourning family brings death donations and offerings
to the gurdwara which are placed before the Guru Granth Sahib. The traditional
offerings (dan) in this context are food and newly purchased household goods, such
as a bed, a mattress, blankets, kitchen utensils, clothes (sometimes also a wedding
dress), and so on. These gifts are intended to represent articles which the departed
soul would have used in life and are offered to the Guru to be used for the public
kitchen and lodging in the gurdwara. The mourners will then place a framed photograph
of the dead on the floor in front of the Guru Granth Sahib, so that when participants
assemble and do matha tekna before the scripture they will also see the deceased.
To create a religious atmosphere the ragis perform a special kind of devotional
music called Vairagi kirtan. Literally Vairagi signifies a person with a feeling of
deep longing for God and his or her mental state of being free and indifferent to all
worldly desires and attachments. 635 In this context the compound implies the music
which aims at supporting the mourners in their grief caused by separation and bereavement.
At the end of the program the granthi performs the last Sikh prayer in
which he pleads for peace and a good destiny for the departed soul.
635
McGregor 1997: 936.
387
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008