Guru Nanak

Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: gʊɾuː naːnəkə, ), also referred to as Bābā Nānak ('father Nānak'), was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated worldwide as Guru Nanak Gurpurab on Katak Pooranmashi ('full-moon of Kattak'), i.e. October–November. Nanak is said to have travelled far and wide across Asia teaching people the message of ik onkar (ੴ), who dwells in every one of his creations and constitutes the eternal Truth. With this concept, he would set up a unique spiritual, social, and political platform based on equality, fraternal love, goodness, and virtue. Nanak's words are registered in the form of 974 poetic hymns, or shabda, in the holy text of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, with some of the major prayers being the Japji Sahib (jap; ji and sahib are suffixes signifying respect); the Asa di Var ('ballad of hope'); and the Sidh Gosht ('discussion with the Siddhas'). It is part of Sikh religious belief that the spirit of Nanak's sanctity, divinity, and religious authority had descended upon each of the nine subsequent Gurus when the Guruship was devolved on to them. Guru Nanak Gurpurab Nanak was born on 15 April 1469 at Rāi Bhoi Kī Talvaṇḍī village (present-day Nankana Sahib, Punjab, Pakistan) in the Lahore province of the Delhi Sultanate, although according to one tradition, he was born in the Indian month of Kārtik or November, known as Kattak in Punjabi. Most janamsakhis (ਜਨਮਸਾਖੀ), or traditional biographies of Nanak, mention that he was born on the third day of the bright lunar fortnight, in the Baisakh month (April) of Samvat 1526. These include the Puratan ('traditional' or 'ancient') janamsakhi, Miharban janamsakhi, Gyan-ratanavali by Bhai Mani Singh, and the Vilayat Vali janamsakhi. Gurbilas Patashahi 6, written 1718, also attributed to Bhai Mani Singh contradicts Mani Singh’s Janamsakhi as it instead says Guru Nanak was born on the full moon of Katak.