INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

a main attraction on anniversary days of the first and the last Guru. 656 For a whole
day a large number of devotees take Guru Granth Sahib out in procession and traverse
various neighborhoods of the city, singing gurbani and displaying communal
activities. The eye-catching parade permits important symbolic elements of the community
to been seen and worshipped, and has become a popular way of creating
public awareness of the Sikh religion. Thirdly, there are processions of the Guru
Granth Sahib which aims solely to honor the scripture and the historical Gurus by
displaying the book as royalty in smaller parades. On the Gurus’ birthdays the congregation
in Varanasi meets in the early morning hours to mount the scripture on a
palanquin and slowly circulate the gurdwara before the Prakash ceremony. People
perfume the way for the Guru and throw flowers on the throne when the book is
solemnly opened. Afterwards the gurdwara arranges a full-day program with a
large-scaled distribution of food and performances of music and expositions. At night
the congregation gathers to celebrate the auspicious conclusion of the unbroken readings
of Guru Granth Sahib and praise the birth of the Guru by throwing flowers over
the scripture.
MORNING PROCESSIONS
Forty days before the anniversary of Guru Nanak’s and Guru Gobind Singh’s birthday
the Sikhs in Varanasi organize daily morning programs of devotional singing
called prabhatferi. The term prabhatferi is a compound of the words “morning” (prabhat)
and “to go around” (feri), and thus means “to go around in the early morning”. In
this context it signifies groups of people who before sunset set out in processions
from different locations in Varanasi to sing gurbani hymns. These marches are usually
one-way routes and the final destination is the gurdwara associated with the Guru
who is subject of the commemoration: before Guru Nanak’s birthday the Sikhs march
to Gurubagh Gurdwara and in relation to Gobind Singh’s anniversary to Nichibagh
Gurdwara. During the time of my fieldwork regular prabhatferi groups were organized
from five locations in the city: Ashok Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, and
the distant northern areas of Raj Ghat and Cotton Mill. In addition there was one
group walking between the two gurdwaras, from Nichibagh to Gurubagh and vice
versa. Although Sikhs may express the most divergent motives for participating in
these processions, many will take a vow to regularly, for forty days, get up early in
the morning, take a bath, and walk to the gurdwara, sometimes barefoot, while singing
gubani hymns. The commitment to regularity is believed to generate religious
merits and divine favours. At the collective level the staging of prabhatferis is a means
to venerate the Guru whom is to be celebrated.
The procession starts at 5 in the morning at the specific locality and reaches the
gurdwara one or sometimes two hours later. One person will lead the procession,
carrying a Nishan Sahib with flower-garlands wrapped around the staff. This under-
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Other communities may arrange Nagar Kirtan on all the major Gurpurubs as well as Vaisakhi,
i.e. all the major festivals in the Nanakshahi calendar.
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008