The Hindu : National : Guru Granth Sahib, a magnificent human heritage: Kalam

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Wednesday, Sep 01, 2004

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National

Guru Granth Sahib, a magnificent human heritage: Kalam

By Sarabjit Pandher

Golden Occasion: President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar on Tuesday on the eve of the 400th anniversary of the installation of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. — Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

AMRITSAR, AUG. 31 . The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, said today that the celebrations of the quadra-centennial (400 years) of installation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in the holy precincts of the Golden Temple provided an opportunity for rededicating to work to bring prosperity, peace and harmony to planet Earth. The teachings were relevant as sectarianism, violence and bloodshed had been frequenting the social fabric.

Dwelling in detail on various aspects of the teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib, Mr. Kalam stressed the need to celebrate the event in history as a magnificent human heritage. The event offered a major lesson for the youth of the country, whom he described as a sizeable vibrant and resourceful segment of society, with a burning desire to scale greater heights.

The President was delivering the valedictory address to a seminar titled "Relevance of Guru Granth Sahib in the New Millennium" organised in the Guru Nanak Dev University. He also laid the foundation stone for a Guru Granth Sahib Bhavan.

`Put to practice'

In his address, the Punjab Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, referred to the prevalence of casteism and expressed concern that the teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib were not put to practice in the last 400 years. Recitation of the scripture had been reduced to a mere ritual, defeating the basic aim set by the great Gurus.

Earlier, on arrival, Mr. Kalam was taken to the Golden Temple, Jallianwalah Bagh and the Durgiana Mandir. The visit evoked a major response from the people as well as the pilgrims from other parts of the country.

Mr. Kalam was escorted by the Governors of Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, O.P. Verma and S.S. Barnala, as they paid obeisance at the sanctum sanctorum of the holiest shrine of the Sikh community. The head priest of the Golden Temple, Giani Puran Singh, presented the traditional siropa (robes of religious honour) to the President, while the "ragis" sang hymns from the Gurbani.

To avoid inconvenience to other devotees, the President was ushered in from the gate behind the Akal Takhat, while the entourage did not perform the customary "parikarma" of the sarovar (holy tank). When the President reached the Darshani Deori of the shrine, the flow of pilgrims was halted for a while as long as he stayed in the shrine.

Spiritual experience

Later, at a brief function outside the information office of the Golden Temple, Mr. Kalam said that it was not a formal visit, but a spiritual experience for him as he could visualise the evolution of the Guru Granth Sahib and the mission undertaken by the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev, to compile the holy scriptures which, apart from their universal appeal, had emerged as a symbol of national integration and true secularism as teachings of saints of other religion were also included.

However, it was the poem titled "Guru Parkasham" which the President had written on board of the Indian Air Force aircraft, while heading to the holy city, which won the hearts of many.

He informed the gathering at the Golden Temple, later at the GNDU, that he had written the poem in his native Tamil language and later translated it into English, while his staff further prepared a Hindi version.

Mr. Parkash Singh Badal while addressing the gathering, appealed for a Presidential intervention to declare September 1 as a national holiday.

He also sought the return of documents and other articles, which were taken away by the Army, when it conducted "Operation Bluestar" to flush out militants from the shrine in 1984.

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