Gurgaddi Diwas of Guru Granth Sahib 2026

About Gurgaddi Diwas of Guru Granth Sahib

Gurgaddi Diwas, also called Gurta Gaddi Diwas, marks the day in 1708 when Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, ended the line of human Gurus at Nanded and installed the Granth as the Guru for all time. Sikhs keep it on the second day of the bright half of Katak, and in 2026 the SGPC date is Wednesday, 11 November 2026.

Gur means Guru and gaddi is the seat or throne of authority. Gurgaddi Diwas is the anniversary of the Sikh Guruship passing from a person to a scripture. Since 1708, Sikhs have not followed a living human Guru. They bow to the Guru Granth Sahib, and every gurdwara is arranged around it. In its own calendar the SGPC calls the day Guriyai Divas Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the day of Guruship.

What happened at Nanded in 1708?

Guru Gobind Singh had travelled to the Deccan in 1708, in the camp of the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah, hoping to get back Anandpur. The talks went nowhere. He camped by the Godavari at Nanded, in present-day Maharashtra. In the first week of September he initiated a Bairagi ascetic, Madho Das, who became Banda Singh Bahadur. Soon after, an assassin stabbed the Guru, and the wound proved fatal. He died at Nanded on 7 October 1708.

A few days before his death, Sikh tradition says, he called the sangat together and told them there would be no human Guru after him. An entry in a Bhatt Vahi, the record book of a family of bards, describes the scene. The Guru asked Bhai Daya Singh to bring the Granth Sahib, placed five paise and a coconut before it, and bowed before it. He then told the gathering to treat the Granth as the Guru in his place. Kesar Singh Chhibber's Bansavalinama, written in 1769, also has the Guru name the Granth as Guru in his last words.

The Granth he installed had a long history by then. Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru, finished compiling the Adi Granth on 29 August 1604 and installed it at the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar two days later, with Baba Buddha as its first granthi. At Damdama Sahib in 1704, Guru Gobind Singh and Bhai Mani Singh added the hymns of his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, to make the final text. Today's standard edition has 1,430 pages and 5,894 shabads, set to 31 ragas in the Gurmukhi script. Its contributors include six of the Gurus as well as bhagats from Hindu and Muslim backgrounds and a group of bards, the Bhatts.

How the date of Gurgaddi Diwas is set

The SGPC dates the day by the lunar Bikrami reckoning, on Katak sudi 2, the second day of the bright fortnight of Katak. This is the same tithi as the Hindu festival of Bhai Dooj. So Gurgaddi Diwas comes two or three days after Bandi Chhor Divas and a few days before the Joti Jot of Guru Gobind Singh, which the SGPC keeps on Katak sudi 5. Because the month is lunar, the Gregorian date moves between mid-October and mid-November.

How Sikhs mark the day

The day centres on the Guru Granth Sahib itself. Many gurdwaras hold an Akhand Path, an unbroken reading of all 1,430 pages by a relay of readers, which takes about 48 hours and is often timed so that its closing bhog falls on the day. Kirtan follows, then katha on the events at Nanded, Ardas, karah prashad and langar.

The daily rituals of the gurdwara carry extra weight on this day. At Prakash before dawn, the Granth is carried in a palki, opened, and the first verse on the left-hand page is read as the day's hukamnama. A sevadar waves the chaur over it during the service. At night, at Sukhasan, it is closed, wrapped in rumalas and carried to its resting room.

The main observance is at Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib in Nanded, one of the five Sikh Takhts. Maharaja Ranjit Singh had it built between 1832 and 1837 over the place where the Guru was cremated, and the inner room is called the Angitha Sahib. At Hazur Sahib, Gurta Gaddi is one of a run of observances from Dipmala at Diwali to Sachkhand Gaman, the name the Takht uses for the Joti Jot day. For the tercentenary in 2008, the Takht held Dipmala on 28 October, Gurta Gaddi on 30 October and Sachkhand Gaman on 3 November, under the banner "300 Saal Guru de Naal".

What to write on Gurgaddi Diwas

Gurta Gaddi

The seat of Guruship; Gurgaddi Diwas is the day it passed to the Granth.

Ang

A page of the Guru Granth Sahib; the word means limb, because the Granth is treated as a living Guru.

Prakash

The morning opening of the Guru Granth Sahib in the gurdwara.

Sukhasan

The night-time closing, when the Granth is wrapped and carried to rest.

Rumala

The cloth that covers the Guru Granth Sahib.

Hukamnama

The verse read when the Granth is opened at random, taken as the Guru's word for the day.

Vadhaiyan

Punjabi for congratulations, used for festival greetings.

The tenth Guru's own birth anniversary is Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti in winter. The next gurpurab after Gurgaddi Diwas is Guru Nanak Gurpurab on the full moon of Katak, usually about two weeks later.

How to wish someone on Gurgaddi Diwas of Guru Granth Sahib

A Gurgaddi Diwas wish honours the Guru Granth Sahib as the living Guru, so speak of the Guru's word, the Bani and the sangat rather than of a birthday or a party. "Gurta Gaddi Diwas diyan lakh lakh vadhaiyan" is the usual Punjabi greeting. The day falls in the week of Guru Gobind Singh's Joti Jot, so keep the tone devout and calm.

Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.

Language tip: English, Punjabi.

When is Gurgaddi Diwas of Guru Granth Sahib in each year?

Gurgaddi Diwas of Guru Granth Sahib is set by the Sikh lunisolar (Bikrami) calendar, so it falls on a different date each year. In 2027 it falls 11 days earlier than in 2026.

Frequently asked questions