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TL;DR — Guru Nanak Jayanti, known among Sikhs as Guru Nanak Gurpurab or Prakash Utsav, marks the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of the Sikh faith and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. In 2026 it falls on Tuesday, 24 November, the full moon of Kartik — Katak di Puranmashi — and is the 557th Prakash Utsav. It is kept over three days at the gurdwara: the Akhand Path, the continuous reading of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji; the Nagar Kirtan procession led by the Panj Pyare; and the Gurpurab itself, with kirtan from before dawn, katha, ardas and langar. Prokerala and PublicHolidays.in both give the Tuesday, which is a public holiday across most of India. This is a Sikh observance; this guide describes it on its own terms, for Sikh readers checking the date and for the many non-Sikh neighbours, colleagues and friends who wish to understand and respectfully take part.
Every year on the full moon of Kartik, gurdwaras across the world are lit up, the sound of kirtan carries out into the street from before dawn, and processions of the faithful move through towns with the Guru Granth Sahib carried in a flower-decked palanquin at their head. This is Guru Nanak Gurpurab, the day Sikhs celebrate the coming into the world of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. It is the most important day in the Sikh year alongside Vaisakhi, and it is one of India's great shared public holidays, observed by Sikhs in every city and by many others who come to the gurdwara for the langar and the light. This guide is written for two readers at once: the Sikh reader who wants the 2026 date and the shape of the three days confirmed, and the non-Sikh reader — a neighbour in Bengaluru, a colleague in Delhi, a friend invited to the gurdwara — who wants to understand what the day is, what happens, and how to be present in it with respect. We have taken particular care to describe the observance as Sikhs keep it and not to fold it into any other tradition; where the day coincides with Hindu festivals on the same full moon, we explain the coincidence rather than blur it.
Guru Nanak Jayanti 2026 date
Guru Nanak Gurpurab is fixed by the lunar calendar on Katak di Puranmashi — the full moon of the month of Katak, which is Kartik in the Hindu reckoning — and so its Gregorian date moves each year. In 2026 the Purnima tithi is current through the whole of Tuesday, 24 November until after sunset, and the Gurpurab falls on the Tuesday.
| Item | 2026 | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Guru Nanak Gurpurab / Prakash Utsav | Tuesday, 24 November 2026 | Prokerala and PublicHolidays.in both give the Tuesday |
| Which anniversary | 557th Prakash Utsav (Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born in 1469) | 2026 minus 1469 |
| Katak Puranmashi tithi | Begins 11:42 PM on Monday, 23 November; ends 8:23 PM on Tuesday, 24 November | Prokerala and Drik Panchang agree to the minute |
| Akhand Path begins | Sunday, 22 November, in most gurdwaras, so that the bhog falls on the morning of the Gurpurab | Forty-eight hours before the Gurpurab; check your gurdwara's notice |
| Nagar Kirtan | Usually Monday, 23 November, the day before; in many cities on the nearest weekend | Set by the local gurdwara committee |
| Public holiday | Gazetted holiday in most Indian states; banks and government offices closed | PublicHolidays.in |
| Same day | Kartik Purnima / Dev Diwali (Hindu); Karthigai Deepam (Tamil Nadu) | See the section on the Kartik Purnima coincidence |
A note on the calendar, since it comes up. There has been a long discussion within the Sikh community about whether Gurpurabs should be fixed by the traditional Bikrami lunar calendar or by the reformed Nanakshahi calendar adopted in 2003 and partly revised since. For Guru Nanak's Gurpurab, the SGPC's calendar continues to use Katak Puranmashi, and that is the date kept by the Takhts and by gurdwaras across India and the diaspora. Some historical Janamsakhi sources place Guru Nanak's birth in the month of Vaisakh instead, and that is why a few scholars and a few congregations note a spring date as well; in practice the Kartik full moon is the date the community celebrates, and it is the one we give. Local gurdwaras announce their own programme — the day the Akhand Path starts, the route and time of the Nagar Kirtan, the hours of the diwan on the Gurpurab — and those notices should be your guide for what happens where you live.
Who Guru Nanak Dev Ji was
Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born in 1469 at Rai Bhoi di Talwandi, a village in the Punjab that is now Nankana Sahib in Pakistan, to Mehta Kalu and Mata Tripta, a Khatri family of the village. The accounts of his life preserved in the Janamsakhis describe a child who questioned ritual from an early age, a young man who refused the sacred thread ceremony with the words that the true thread is spun of compassion and contentment, and an accountant at the granary of Sultanpur Lodhi who, at about thirty, disappeared for three days while bathing in the Bein rivulet and came back with the words that there is no Hindu and no Muslim — meaning, as Sikhs understand it, that before the One there are no such divisions. What followed were the udasis, four great journeys on foot over some two decades, with his companion Bhai Mardana playing the rabab, that the tradition takes east as far as Assam and Bengal, south to Sri Lanka, north into Tibet and west to Mecca, Medina and Baghdad, teaching and debating wherever he went. He settled at last at Kartarpur on the Ravi, founded a community that worked the land, ate together and sang together, and before his passing in 1539 named his disciple Bhai Lehna as his successor, Guru Angad — passing the Guruship not to his sons but to the one he judged fit.
The heart of his teaching is stated in the opening of the Guru Granth Sahib, in the Mool Mantar that begins Ik Onkar — there is One, without form, beyond birth and death, known by the Guru's grace. From that follow the three principles every Sikh child learns: Naam Japna, keeping the Divine Name in mind; Kirat Karni, earning an honest living by one's own labour; and Vand Chhakna, sharing what one has with others. Guru Nanak taught the equality of all people regardless of caste, creed or gender; rejected empty ritual, pilgrimage for its own sake and the mediation of priests; and insisted that the householder's life, lived honestly and in service, was the path — not renunciation. He composed 974 hymns that are preserved in the Guru Granth Sahib, including the Japji Sahib, recited by Sikhs every morning. Sikhs regard him as the first of ten human Gurus, each carrying the same light, and the Guru Granth Sahib — the scripture, installed as the eternal Guru by the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, in 1708 — as the living Guru today. That is why a Gurpurab is a celebration of the Guru's light, prakash, and why the scripture, not any image, is at the centre of every part of the day.
Prakash Utsav and the meaning of Gurpurab
The word Gurpurab joins Guru and purab, a festival or holy day, and Sikhs use it for the anniversaries of the Gurus' births and, in some cases, their martyrdoms. Guru Nanak's birth anniversary is called Prakash Utsav or Prakash Purab — the festival of the light's appearing — or in Punjabi simply Guru Nanak Dev Ji da Prakash Purab; the Hindi-English Guru Nanak Jayanti is the name in government notifications and on most calendars, and Sikhs use it without objection though it is not their own term. It is the most widely celebrated of all the Gurpurabs, and in Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Jammu and the diaspora it is the high point of the Sikh year. The greeting for the day is "Guru Nanak Dev Ji de Prakash Purab diyan lakh lakh vadhaiyan" — a hundred thousand congratulations on the Prakash Purab of Guru Nanak Dev Ji — and "Happy Gurpurab" is warmly received from anyone.
The three-day observance
Guru Nanak Gurpurab is not a single day but a sequence, and the sequence is much the same in a village gurdwara in Punjab and in the Ulsoor gurdwara in Bengaluru. Here it is as most gurdwaras keep it; local programmes vary in timing and should be checked on the gurdwara's own notice board or social media.
| When | Observance | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| The days before | Prabhat Pheri | In the early mornings for a week or two before the Gurpurab, groups of Sikhs walk through the neighbourhood singing shabads, the hymns of the Gurus, often stopping at homes that have asked for a visit and are received with tea and sweets. |
| Two days before | Akhand Path begins | The forty-eight-hour continuous reading of the whole of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji begins in the gurdwara, read aloud without a break by a relay of pathis, usually in two-hour turns. Sangat comes and goes, sitting to listen; the reading does not stop for anyone. |
| The day before | Nagar Kirtan | The procession through the town, described below, led by the Panj Pyare, with the Guru Granth Sahib in a decorated palki, kirtan, gatka and street langar all along the route. |
| Gurpurab, before dawn | Amrit vela and Asa di Var | The day begins in the amrit vela, the ambrosial hours before dawn, with the singing of Asa di Var, the morning composition of Guru Nanak, followed by the bhog — the conclusion — of the Akhand Path. |
| Gurpurab, morning to afternoon | Diwan: kirtan, katha, ardas | The main gathering: kirtan by ragis, katha on Guru Nanak's life and teaching, sometimes lectures and poems; the Ardas, the congregational prayer; the reading of the Hukamnama; karah prasad; and langar served throughout. |
| Gurpurab, evening and night | Rehras, deepmala, fireworks | Evening prayers; the gurdwara lit with lamps, candles and electric lights; at the Golden Temple and many others, fireworks; in some gurdwaras a night-long kirtan diwan, the rain sabai. |
The Akhand Path
The Akhand Path — the unbroken reading — is the spine of the observance. The Guru Granth Sahib runs to 1,430 pages, and read aloud continuously it takes about forty-eight hours, so the reading is begun two days before the Gurpurab and timed so that its bhog, the concluding pages, is reached on the morning of the day itself. The pathis who read are granthis and trained members of the sangat, changing over every two hours or so without a pause in the recitation; a lamp is kept burning, a bowl of water and karah prasad are kept covered beside the scripture, and the reading is followed by the bhog ceremony, the Ardas and the distribution of prasad. Sangat sits before the scripture at all hours to listen, and many people take a turn of two hours of listening as their seva. In homes with the means, a family may hold an Akhand Path of its own for the Gurpurab; more commonly families attend the one at the gurdwara.
The Nagar Kirtan and the Panj Pyare
The Nagar Kirtan — literally, kirtan through the town — is the public face of the Gurpurab and the part a non-Sikh is most likely to see. It is a procession that carries Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, seated in a palki sahib, a palanquin decorated with flowers and cloth and often mounted on a float, through the streets of the town from the gurdwara and back, with the sangat walking behind and around it singing shabads, and with the streets ahead swept and sprinkled with water by volunteers. At its head walk the Panj Pyare, the Five Beloved Ones: five baptised Sikhs in saffron robes and turbans, carrying drawn swords, who walk before the Guru in memory of the first five who offered their heads to Guru Gobind Singh Ji at Anandpur on the Vaisakhi of 1699 and became the first members of the Khalsa. Their presence at the front of every Nagar Kirtan is a statement that the Guru is led by the Khalsa's readiness to serve. Behind or before them are carried the Nishan Sahib, the triangular saffron flags of the faith, and along the route bands play, schoolchildren sing, and gatka troupes demonstrate the Sikh martial art with sticks and swords. Along the whole route, families and shopkeepers set up stalls of free food and drink — tea, sweets, chhole, fruit, water — for anyone passing, Sikh or not; this street langar is one of the day's most characteristic sights, and accepting it is a courtesy, not an imposition.
The Gurpurab itself
The day begins in the dark. Sikhs go to the gurdwara in the amrit vela, the last hours of the night, to hear Asa di Var, the long morning composition of Guru Nanak sung in the Asa raga, and the bhog of the Akhand Path follows. The main diwan, the gathering, runs through the morning and often into the afternoon: kirtan, the singing of Gurbani by ragi jathas with harmonium and tabla; katha, exposition of the Guru's life and hymns by a granthi or a visiting scholar; sometimes kavi darbars, poetic tributes; and then the Ardas, the standing prayer of the whole congregation that ends with the affirmation of the Khalsa, followed by the Hukamnama, the reading of a passage opened at random from the Guru Granth Sahib as the Guru's order for the day. Karah prasad — a sweet of equal parts wheat flour, ghee and sugar, blessed with the kirpan — is then distributed to everyone present, received in cupped hands. And through all of it the langar is served. In the evening the gurdwara is lit — deepmala, with rows of lamps and candles along the walls and the sarovar's edge — and at the Golden Temple and many others there are fireworks over the water. Sikh homes light candles and diyas at the door and window for the night, and families exchange sweets and visit one another.
Langar and seva: the heart of the day
If the Akhand Path is the spine of Gurpurab, langar is its heart. Langar is the free community kitchen of every gurdwara, where anyone at all — of any faith, caste, class or none — sits on the floor in a row, the pangat, and is served the same simple vegetarian meal, usually dal, a vegetable, roti, rice and kheer, by volunteers. Guru Nanak established it at Kartarpur, and the third Guru, Guru Amar Das Ji, made it a rule that no one, emperor or beggar, would see him without first eating in the langar with everyone else. It is the practical form of Vand Chhakna, of sharing, and of the equality Guru Nanak taught; the Mughal emperor Akbar is recorded as having sat in the pangat before meeting Guru Amar Das. On Gurpurab the langar runs from before dawn until late at night, and at the great gurdwaras it feeds lakhs. It is prepared, served and cleared entirely by seva, selfless service, and the seva is open to everyone: peeling vegetables, rolling rotis, serving water, washing the steel plates in the great troughs, sweeping the floors, minding the shoes at the joda ghar, and the kar seva of cleaning the sarovar. Sikhs regard the humblest seva — washing dishes, cleaning shoes — as the most honourable, and on Gurpurab it is common to see doctors, officers and businesspeople doing exactly that. A non-Sikh who wishes to take part in the day can do no better than to offer two hours in the langar hall; the sevadars will show you what to do.
What non-Sikhs can respectfully do on Gurpurab
Gurdwaras are open to everyone, on Gurpurab above all, and Sikhs are glad to see friends and neighbours there. The etiquette is simple and is asked of Sikhs and visitors alike; nobody will be offended by a visitor who does not know it, but a visitor who does know it will be more at ease.
| At the gurdwara | What to do |
|---|---|
| Head covered | Everyone, men and women, covers the head inside the gurdwara. A scarf, dupatta or handkerchief is fine; baskets of head-coverings are kept at the entrance for anyone without one. Caps and hats are not used; a cloth is. |
| Shoes off, hands and feet washed | Shoes are left at the joda ghar, where sevadars will take them and give you a token. Hands are washed, and at most gurdwaras a shallow channel of water at the entrance is walked through to wash the feet. |
| No tobacco, alcohol or intoxicants | Not on the person and not in the system. Leave cigarettes, lighters and anything of the kind outside, and do not come having drunk. |
| Before the Guru Granth Sahib | Visitors walk up the central aisle, and most bow — matha tekna, touching the forehead to the floor — before the scripture and may place an offering of money or flowers. Bowing is customary but not demanded of a non-Sikh; standing with folded hands is entirely acceptable. Do not turn your back directly on the Guru Granth Sahib as you move away; step to the side. |
| Sitting in the diwan | Sit on the floor with the sangat, cross-legged, without pointing the feet towards the Guru Granth Sahib. Men and women often sit on opposite sides; follow the room. Phones on silent; photography of the diwan only if others are clearly doing it, and never of the scripture up close. |
| Karah prasad | Receive it in both hands cupped together, right over left, and eat it; it is not to be refused or thrown away. If you cannot eat it, take a small portion. |
| Langar | Sit in the row where you are shown, wait to be served, and take only what you will eat; more will be brought. Everyone eats the same food in the same row. Wash your own plate if that is the custom of the gurdwara, or hand it to the sevadars. |
| Seva | Offer to help. Two hours in the langar kitchen or at the joda ghar is welcomed from anyone and is the most natural way to be part of the day. |
| Dress | Modest and clean; shoulders and legs covered. There is no colour rule, but bright and festive is fine, and many visitors wear something with a touch of saffron or blue. |
Beyond the gurdwara: greet Sikh friends and colleagues with "Happy Gurpurab" or, if you are comfortable with it, the Punjabi greeting; accept the sweets and tea offered at Nagar Kirtan stalls; stand respectfully as the palki sahib passes in a procession, with head covered if you can; and if you are invited to a friend's home for the day, take sweets or fruit. A few things are best not done. Do not bring Hindu puja items, images or offerings to a gurdwara, since Sikhism does not use them; do not describe the gurdwara as a temple or the diwan as a puja; do not touch the Guru Granth Sahib or its coverings; and do not treat the day as an occasion for selling anything to anyone. For workplaces with Sikh colleagues, our guide on gifting in mixed-faith offices has a note on getting the festive calendar right; the short version for Gurpurab is a greeting, a box of sweets for the team, and, if there is a gurdwara near the office, a langar visit together.
The Kartik Purnima coincidence: Gurpurab, Dev Diwali and Karthigai Deepam
Because Guru Nanak's Gurpurab is fixed on Katak Puranmashi, it always falls on Kartik Purnima, which is also the day of the Hindu Dev Diwali, kept above all at the Varanasi ghats, and of Tripurari Purnima across Maharashtra and the south. In 2026 it also happens to coincide with Karthigai Deepam, the Tamil festival of lamps, which is fixed by the Krittika star in the solar month of Karthigai and lands on the same Tuesday, 24 November this year. So on one night there will be lamps on the Ganga at Kashi, a great flame on Arunachala at Thiruvannamalai, and deepmala at the Golden Temple. It is worth being clear about what this does and does not mean. The three festivals share a full moon and a love of light; they do not share a story, a scripture or a mode of worship. Sikhs do not keep Gurpurab as a Hindu festival and would not recognise it as one: it is the birth anniversary of their founding Guru, celebrated with his own hymns and his own scripture. Hindus who light lamps on Dev Diwali are keeping a Purnima for the gods and for Shiva's victory over Tripurasura, with no reference to Guru Nanak. Neither observance is a version of the other. What a family in a mixed neighbourhood can do — and many do — is keep its own day and visit the other's: a Sikh family may well walk down to see the diyas on a river ghat, and a Hindu family may well go to the gurdwara for langar and the lights. That is a courtesy between neighbours on a shared night, and it is the spirit in which we have written this guide alongside our separate guides to Dev Diwali 2026, Karthigai Deepam and the month of Kartik, each on its own terms.
One more coincidence is often confused with this one. Sikhs also mark Bandi Chhor Divas, the day Guru Hargobind Ji was released from Gwalior fort with fifty-two Hindu kings, which falls on or beside Diwali — in 2026, Sunday, 8 November — and is why the Golden Temple is famously lit on Diwali night. That is a separate Sikh observance from Gurpurab, a fortnight earlier, with its own history; it is not "Sikh Diwali" any more than Gurpurab is "Sikh Dev Diwali."
Key gurdwaras on Gurpurab
Every gurdwara in the world keeps the Gurpurab, but a few carry the weight of the day. Gurdwara Janam Asthan at Nankana Sahib, in Pakistan's Punjab, stands at the place of Guru Nanak's birth, and the Gurpurab there is the largest Sikh gathering in Pakistan, with jathas of pilgrims crossing from India on visas issued for the purpose under the 1974 protocol, and a formal celebration organised by the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Sri Harmandir Sahib, the Golden Temple at Amritsar, is where the Gurpurab is seen by the most people: the Akhand Path, the Nagar Kirtan through the old city, the kirtan diwans, the deepmala of lamps around the sarovar and the fireworks over the water are broadcast across the world, and the langar there on the day feeds numbers that are hard to credit. Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur, on the Ravi in Pakistan, where Guru Nanak spent his last eighteen years and passed away, is reached from India through the Kartarpur Corridor opened in 2019; the Gurpurab there has a particular quiet significance. Gurdwara Ber Sahib at Sultanpur Lodhi, on the Bein where Guru Nanak is held to have received his calling, holds a great three-day celebration. In Delhi, Gurdwara Bangla Sahib and Sis Ganj Sahib are lit up and the Nagar Kirtan moves through Chandni Chowk. Takht Sri Patna Sahib in Bihar, Takht Sri Hazur Sahib at Nanded in Maharashtra and Takht Sri Damdama Sahib at Talwandi Sabo each hold the day with full ceremony as seats of Sikh authority. And for readers in the south: Gurdwara Nanak Jhira Sahib at Bidar in Karnataka, where Guru Nanak is held to have stopped on his southern journey and where a spring rose at his touch, is the largest Sikh shrine in the south and draws pilgrims from across the region on Gurpurab; and in Bengaluru the Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha at Ulsoor, the city's largest, holds the Akhand Path, a Nagar Kirtan through the neighbourhood and a langar that the whole city is welcome to.
How a Sikh family keeps the day at home
Most of Gurpurab is kept at the gurdwara, but the day has a household shape too. Many families rise for the amrit vela and go to the gurdwara together for Asa di Var; some hold a sehaj path or a sukhmani sahib path at home in the days before, reading the scripture at their own pace, or host a kirtan darbar in the evening with a ragi jatha invited to the house and neighbours welcomed. Homes are cleaned and decorated with lights and, in the evening, candles and diyas are lit at doors and windows; sweets are made or bought and exchanged; children are told the sakhis, the stories of Guru Nanak — the true bargain of feeding hungry sadhus with his father's money, the cobra shading him as he slept, the field he watered in Kartarpur — and many families give to a charity or to the gurdwara's langar fund in the Guru's name on the day, in the spirit of Vand Chhakna. None of this involves an image of Guru Nanak in the sense of a worshipped idol; pictures of the Guru are kept in Sikh homes as reminders, not as objects of puja, and the difference is one Sikhs take seriously.
The November 2026 calendar for reference
For readers keeping track of a crowded month, here is where Gurpurab sits among the observances of November 2026; the Sikh dates are given first.
| Observance | 2026 date | Tradition |
|---|---|---|
| Bandi Chhor Divas | Sunday, 8 November | Sikh — the release of Guru Hargobind Ji; the Golden Temple is lit |
| Akhand Path for Gurpurab begins | Sunday, 22 November (typical) | Sikh — check your gurdwara |
| Nagar Kirtan | Monday, 23 November (typical), or the nearest weekend | Sikh — set locally |
| Guru Nanak Gurpurab / Prakash Utsav | Tuesday, 24 November | Sikh — public holiday |
| Diwali | Sunday, 8 November | Hindu — the Diwali Lakshmi Puja 2026 guide |
| Kartik Purnima / Dev Diwali | Tuesday, 24 November | Hindu — the Dev Diwali 2026 guide |
| Karthigai Deepam | Tuesday, 24 November | Hindu, Tamil — the Karthigai Deepam guide |
The full-moon dates for the whole year are in the Purnima and Amavasya 2026 list, and the year's festivals across traditions in the Festival Calendar 2026. Lunar dates can shift by a day with location; Sikh readers should follow their gurdwara's programme, and everyone should confirm the date locally.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Guru Nanak Jayanti in 2026?
Guru Nanak Jayanti, or Guru Nanak Gurpurab, falls on Tuesday, 24 November 2026, on Katak di Puranmashi, the full moon of Kartik. Prokerala and PublicHolidays.in both give the Tuesday, and Prokerala and Drik Panchang agree that the Purnima tithi runs from 11:42 PM on Monday, 23 November to 8:23 PM on Tuesday, 24 November. It is the 557th Prakash Utsav, Guru Nanak Dev Ji having been born in 1469, and it is a public holiday across most of India. The Akhand Path usually begins two days earlier and the Nagar Kirtan is held the day before or on the nearest weekend; check your local gurdwara's programme.
Who was Guru Nanak Dev Ji?
Guru Nanak Dev Ji, born in 1469 at Rai Bhoi di Talwandi, now Nankana Sahib in Pakistan, was the founder of the Sikh faith and the first of its ten Gurus. After his calling at Sultanpur Lodhi he travelled for some two decades across South Asia and beyond, teaching that there is One Creator, that all people are equal regardless of caste, creed or gender, and that the path is an honest householder's life of remembering the Divine Name, earning honestly and sharing with others. He settled at Kartarpur, founded the community there, composed the hymns preserved in the Guru Granth Sahib and named Guru Angad as his successor before his passing in 1539.
What is the difference between Gurpurab and Prakash Utsav?
Gurpurab is the general Sikh term for a holy day connected with a Guru, including birth anniversaries and martyrdom days. Prakash Utsav or Prakash Purab, the festival of the light's appearing, is the specific name for a Guru's birth anniversary, and for Guru Nanak it is the most widely celebrated of all. Guru Nanak Jayanti is the name used in government notifications and on most calendars; Sikhs use it without objection though it is not their own term. All three names refer to the same day.
What is an Akhand Path?
An Akhand Path is the unbroken reading aloud of the whole of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 1,430 pages, by a relay of readers changing every two hours or so without a pause, which takes about forty-eight hours. For Gurpurab it begins two days before so that its conclusion, the bhog, falls on the morning of the day itself, followed by the Ardas and the distribution of karah prasad. The sangat sits before the scripture to listen at all hours, and many people take a two-hour turn of listening as their seva.
What happens in a Nagar Kirtan?
A Nagar Kirtan is the procession that carries Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji through the town in a palki sahib, a flower-decorated palanquin, with the sangat walking behind singing shabads. It is led by the Panj Pyare, five baptised Sikhs in saffron with drawn swords, in memory of the first five members of the Khalsa, and by the Nishan Sahib flags. Along the route there are gatka displays, bands and schoolchildren singing, and volunteers sweep and sprinkle the road ahead. Families and shopkeepers set up stalls of free food and drink for everyone passing, Sikh or not. It is usually held the day before the Gurpurab or on the nearest weekend.
Who are the Panj Pyare?
The Panj Pyare, the Five Beloved Ones, were the five Sikhs who answered Guru Gobind Singh Ji's call for a head at Anandpur on Vaisakhi in 1699 and became the first members of the Khalsa. In every Nagar Kirtan, five baptised Sikhs in saffron robes and turbans, carrying swords, walk at the head of the procession before the Guru Granth Sahib in their memory, representing the Khalsa's readiness to serve and protect the Guru. The Panj Pyare also officiate at the Sikh initiation ceremony and carry authority within the community.
Can non-Sikhs visit a gurdwara on Guru Nanak Jayanti?
Yes, and they are warmly welcome. Cover your head with a scarf or cloth, leave your shoes at the joda ghar, wash your hands and feet at the entrance, carry no tobacco or alcohol, and sit on the floor with the sangat without pointing your feet at the Guru Granth Sahib. Bowing before the scripture is customary but not required; standing with folded hands is acceptable. Receive karah prasad in cupped hands and eat it, eat in the langar in the row where you are seated, and offer seva in the kitchen if you can. Do not bring puja items or images, and do not touch the scripture or its coverings.
Is Guru Nanak Jayanti the same as Dev Diwali or Kartik Purnima?
No. Guru Nanak Gurpurab is fixed on the full moon of Kartik, Katak Puranmashi, so it always falls on the same day as Kartik Purnima and the Hindu festival of Dev Diwali, and in 2026 it also coincides with the Tamil Karthigai Deepam on Tuesday, 24 November. They share a full moon and a love of lamps but not a story, a scripture or a mode of worship. Gurpurab is the birth anniversary of the founder of the Sikh faith, kept with Akhand Path, Nagar Kirtan, kirtan and langar at the gurdwara; Dev Diwali is a Hindu festival of lamps for the gods on the Ganga. Neither is a version of the other, and Sikhs do not keep Gurpurab as a Hindu festival.
What is langar and can anyone eat it?
Langar is the free community kitchen of every gurdwara, where anyone of any faith, caste or class sits on the floor in a row, the pangat, and is served the same simple vegetarian meal by volunteers. Guru Nanak began it at Kartarpur and Guru Amar Das made it a rule that everyone, including emperors, ate in the langar before meeting him. Anyone at all may eat, and on Gurpurab it runs from before dawn until late at night. It is prepared, served and cleared entirely by seva, and anyone, Sikh or not, may help.
How do you wish someone on Guru Nanak Jayanti?
The Punjabi greeting is "Guru Nanak Dev Ji de Prakash Purab diyan lakh lakh vadhaiyan," a hundred thousand congratulations on the Prakash Purab of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. "Happy Gurpurab" or "Happy Guru Nanak Jayanti" is warmly received from anyone. A box of sweets for Sikh friends, neighbours or a team at work, and a visit to the gurdwara for langar together, are the customary ways to share the day.
Related reading
Our guides to the other observances of the same full moon are written on their own terms: Dev Diwali 2026 at the Varanasi ghats · Karthigai Deepam · Kartik Month 2026 · Sharad Purnima 2026. For lighting candles and diyas at the door on the night, our guide on ghee versus oil diyas covers wicks and safety.
