New Delhi: Amid the tensions between India and Pakistan, on Friday, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) began shifting the holy saroops of the Guru Granth Sahib from gurdwaras near the border areas of Dera Baba Nanak and Galarhi in Gurdaspur, Punjab. The holy saroops will be shifted to a safer location in Gurdwara Sri Tahli Sahib.
Why are the holy saroops being shifted?
Following the recent tension between India and Pakistan and the attack on the Gurudwara in Poonch, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has decided to move the holy Sri Guru Granth Sahib from border areas to safer locations.
As per IANS, Kashmir Singh, the Granthi of Gurudwara Satlani Sahib, stated, “The SGPC President, Harjinder Singh Dhami, has instructed us to prepare vehicles to safely transport the holy form from any Gurudwara near the border, at the request of the Granthi.”
Rajinder Singh Ruby, the Manager of Darbar Sahib, said, “To prevent any disrespect, we will use respectful vehicles to transport the holy Sri Guru Granth Sahib from the Gurudwara.”
SGPC members are visiting border villages to gather information about where the holy saroops are located. When the SGPC team arrived in Kahna, a border village in Gurdaspur, the villagers refused to send Sri Guru Granth Sahib away. They proclaimed they would protect the holy forms even at the cost of their lives. They assured that they would first take the holy form to a safe location if they had to leave the village. The villagers expressed their commitment to support the country during this tense situation.
What is a holy saroop?
Saroop, often called “Bir” in Punjabi, represents the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Sikhism’s main religious text. Sikhs worldwide see this scripture as a living Guru, not just a book.
Each Saroop has exactly 1,430 pages, called Angs, meaning ‘limbs’. This term reflects how important Sikhs see their holy text. The content on every Ang is carefully preserved to keep it the same in all Saroops, emphasising the need to maintain the purity and authenticity of the divine words it contains.
