The 350th Prakash Parv (also Prakash Utsav) or birth anniversary of

Guru Gobind Singh Guru Gobind Singh (; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708), born Gobind Das or Gobind Rai the tenth Sikh Guru, a spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher. When his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was executed by Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Sing ...

ji was celebrated in January 2017 in

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

, India. 2017 is the year of the 350th anniversary of the 10th

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

Guru, a spiritual master,

warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been p ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

. At the date of this anniversary, a number of events was organized on the occasion in

marking a grand celebration in their history.

Development and preparation

Just as the construction of the over-bridge, which connects Guru Gobind Path with the National Highway is undergoing for the 350th anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, several major construction projects have been undertaken for the 350th anniversary celebrations. *The roads and bylanes which connects to Gurdwara Kangan Ghat in the Patna City area, situated on the bank of river

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

is hardly 200 yards from Takht Sri Patna Sahib, are undergoing a major facelift *A temporary tent city spanning over 75 acres is to be set up on the banks of Ganga near Kangan Ghat *The

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

is re-opening Patna Ghat railway station between and to clear the rush. It has also constructed a new road overbridge near Chowk Shikarpur on main line. *Several tourist information centres would be opened in Patna *200

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

cameras will be installed to monitor the situation *The Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (gurdwara management committee) is also undertaking huge constructions and renovations on its campus. *Multiple tent cities have been planned across Patna under the aegis of Department of Tourism, Government of Bihar, with the main celebrations being conducted at

Gandhi Maidan Gandhi Maidan is a historic ground in Patna, near the banks of the Ganges River, in Bihar, India. The Golghar falls to its west. During the period of 1824–1833, under British rule, it was used as a golf course and horse racing track and was c ...

. *On 16 September 2016,

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician, who is serving as Chief Minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previous held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. The leader of the Janata Dal (Unite ...

, chief minister of Bihar, declared a three-day public holiday in Patna from 3 to 5 January 2017.

Host city

, the capital city of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

is the birthplace of Shri

ji and host city for 350th anniversary celebrations. Most of the celebrations is scheduled to take place in the neighbourhood of

Patna City Patna City, popularly known as Patna Saheb or Patna Sahib, is a city and one of the 6 Sub-divisions (Tehsil) in Patna district, Bihar, India. Patna City is an old area of Patna. Patna City history belongs to Patliputra. It is regarded as ver ...

, close to

Takht Sri Patna Sahib Takhat Sri Patna Sahib also known as Takhat Sri Harimandir Ji, Patna Sahib, is a one of the five Takhats of the Sikhs, located in Patna, Bihar, India. The construction of the Takhat was commissioned by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the 18th ce ...

Gurudwara. The famous Takht Sri Patna Sahib Gurudwara is an important shrine for

s from all over the world. Patna Sahib is considered to be the second most important Takhat, according to religious importance. Patna City is the old area of Patna, located on the eastern side of the state capital. The

Government of Bihar The Government of Bihar, known locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Bihar and its 9 divisions which consist of 38 districts . It consists of an executive, led by the Governor of Bihar, a jud ...

hosted the first ever International Sikh Conclave from 22 to 24 September 2016.

Funding

Together, municipal, provincial and federal levels, that is, all three levels of federal government is contributing funds for the events and new infrastructure planned for the celebrations. In September 2014, officials of the Takht Shri Patna Saheb said NRIs and businessmen from across world will contribute to develop Harmandir Saheb. In February 2016, Union Finance Ministry allocated a package of for the celebrations. The Bihar government on 16 September 2016 said, it will spend on the arrangements and the celebrations.

Exhibition

Panjab Digital Library The Panjab Digital Library is a voluntary organization digitizing and preserving the cultural heritage of Panjab since 2003. With over 50 million digitized pages, it is the biggest resource of digital material on Panjab. There are many his ...

in collaboration with Bihar Government has organised an exhibition, "Emperor-Prophet Guru Gobind Singh Sahib" at Bihar Museum, Patna. The exhibition was inaugurated by Shri Shiv Chander Ram, Hon'ble Minister Department of Art, Culture & Youth on 30 December. It is open to public till 31 December 2017. After that it will be taken to different museums of Bihar. Focus of the exhibit is the digitized heritage of Panjab that elucidate various interesting facets of this glorious era. The heritage speaks for itself explaining history events and original circumstances as they unfolded. The exhibit displays all the major events related to Guru Gobind Singh ji's eventful life from 1666 to 1708. Put in a systematic order, on display are copies of different historical paintings, miniatures, forts, rare pictures detailing the life of Guru Sahib and coins issued in his name during the Khalsa Raj, all accompanied by descriptions and text on panels detailing their significance. It not only brings to life the complete sequence of events as it happened but also how he revolutionized the society.

References

{{reflist Anniversaries January 2017 events in India Patna History of Sikhism

Development and preparation

Host city

Funding

Exhibition

See also

References