Every year since 1604 the entire Sikh community observes this pious day in the form of ‘Prakash Parva’ when for the first time around 600 years back the 5th Sikh Guru Arjan Dev Ji established the significance of the holy ‘Guru Granth Sahib’ in the Golden Temple.
On this day the entire premises of Shri Harmandir Sahib is decorated with great zeal and fervor besides setting up Gurughar, Shri Akal Takht, and Gurudwara Baba Atal Rai Sahib for the grand occasion.
This year to mark the pious day a total of 115 varieties and 110 tonnes of full have been arranged to glorify the existing beauty of the historic Golden Temple.
Gazillion lamps will be brought to use to intensify the celebration and mark this pious occasion. Lakhs of devotees have thronged in to observe the beauty of the temple, on Saturday alone a whopping 2 Lakh people visited the temple.
In the year 1570 Arjun Dev Ji set the foundation of Sri Harmandir Sahib in the center of the lake established by Guru Ramdas, which is popularly known as the Golden Temple worldwide.
It is widely believed that the foundation of this Gurudwara was put in place by a Sufi saint Sai Miya Mir Ji of Lahore and around 400 years back the mapping of the temple was done by Guru Arjun Dev Ji himself.
The inscription of the holy words of Guru Arjan Dev Ji was started by his brother Gurdas in the Gurudwara Ramsar Sahib in 1603 and finally completed in 1604.
The work accomplished by Gurdas was named ‘Aadi Granth’. It is said that Guru Arjan Devi has made reference to the works and words of all the intellectuals of the time without any biases in the holy Sikh text of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
The entire Holy scripture as people still believe has more than 2000 words of Guru Arjan Dev Ji, whereas others whose lessons have been inscribed include that of Bhakt Kabir, Baba Farid, Sant Namdev, Bhakt Dhanna Ji, Bhakt Pipa Ji, Bhakt Sain Ji, Bhakt Bhikhan Ji, Bhakt Parmanand Ji, and Sant Ramanand Ji.
Apart from them the teachings and lessons of Satta, Balwand, Baba Sundar Ji, and his brother Mardana Ji have found a place in Guru Granth Sahib.
It was for the first time that in 1604 ‘Guru Granth Sahib was placed in the Golden Temple. The Holy Scripture has a total of 1430 pages.
The first display of the text was read by Baba Buddha Ji. A sixth-generation devoted servant to the religious services Baba Buddha Ji was the first Granthi of the ‘Guru Granth Sahib.