Punjab Govt to celebrate 350th Birth Anniversary of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji in January 2017 at a Global Magnitude

Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today greeted the Punjabis living in India and across the globe, on the ‘Parkash Purb’ of Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji and exhorted them to follow the noble teachings and rich legacy of the great “Saint Soldier”.

In a message on the auspicious ‘Parkash Purb’ of the tenth Guru of the Sikhs and the founder of the ‘Khalsa Panth’, the Chief Minister said that Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji preached and practiced the ethos of love, oneness of mankind and universal brotherhood throughout his life. Mr. Badal said that the creation of the Khalsa by great Guru in1699 had a universal relevance by which he raised a unifying force in the world ever ready to make self sacrifice for achieving the goals of justice, equality, social good and protection of human rights.

In a bid to propagate the life, works and philosophy of Tenth master of Sikhs Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji amongst the people in the country and across the globe, the Punjab government has decided to celebrate 350th Parkash Utsav of Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji, the tenth Master of Sikhs at Sri Patna Sahib-the birth place of Guru Sahib. The Chief Minister, Sardar Parkash Singh Badal has made a provision of Rs 100 crores to begin with, for the yearlong celebrations.

A Foundation is being set up under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Punjab, Sardar Parkash Singh Badal in this regard. Apart from official representatives, the Foundation will include eminent religious personages, Sikh scholars, including historians, religious and social thinkers etc.  An endowment fund will be created for the foundation.

The Badal Sarkar proposes to observe the celebrations at Patna Sahib at a scale befitting the universal stature of the Guru. This will also be a great and historic opportunity to educate people, people belonging to different faiths all over the world, about the humanitarian and cosmopolitan message of the Sikh Gurus as contained in Sri Guru Granth Sahib. The Sikh masses all over the world as well people from other communities with a concern for human race on this planet are looking forward to the occasion.

The Chief Minister will be holding a series of meetings with eminent scholars of Sikh religion and philosophy and solicit their help and cooperation in helping the government carry the message of the Sikh gurus to every corner of the globe. 

The CM believes that the message of peace and communal harmony is the cornerstone of the teachings of the great Gurus and these ideals are the need of the hour to save not just India but societies and countries across the globe.  The commemorative events spread over an entire year will future among other things, seminars on the works, history and philosophy of Guru Gobind Singh Ji especially in the context of major movements of spiritual substance down the ages.

In a world where communal hatred and social divisions have come to threaten the very basis of the 'One World' as visualized by great minds throughout human history, a return to the simple but profound message delivered by the Sikh Gurus culminating in the most profound moving and pulsating life and contribution of the Tenth Guru can show the way to a distraught humanity and guide it out of the dark corner in which it finds itself.