Amritsar’s Golden Temple decorated for Guru Nanak Jayanti (Image: Wall Street Journal)

Sikh communities around the world are today marking the birth of the first Guru of Sikhism, Guru Nanak.

The festival of Guru Nanak Jayanti will be celebrated by Sikhs in Chennai and across India with prayers, processions and even fireworks, left over (or still available) from the Hindu festival of Diwali, two weeks ago. Chennai Sikhs are expected to congregate at the city’s main  Sri Guru Nanak Sat Sangh Sabha gurdwara in T Nagar, named in honour of the first guru.

Guru Nanak was born on 15th April 1469 in modern day Pakistan; today’s celebrations correspond with an auspicious celebration in the Sikh Nanakshahi calendar. Guru Nanak’s birthplace of Rāi Bhoi Kī Talvaṇḍī was later renamed Nakana Sahib in his honour, and lies about 80 kilometres southwest of Lahore.

A fresco of Guru Nanak at Goindwal, India (Image: Wikipedia)

Celebrations by the Sikh community of Lahore will occur amid tight security, coming just two days after the religiously sensitive occasion of Ashura.

Sikhs in Melbourne will converge on the similarly named Sri Guru Nanak Satsang Sabha gurdwara in Blackburn. Sydney’s Sikhs will likely head to gurdwaras in Parklea and Turramurra, reflecting the large populations bases that Sikhism claims in surrounding districts.

Gurdwaras also operate in regional Australian towns such as Shepparton, Victoria, reflecting the number of Sikhs living in rural Australia. Australia’s first gurdwara, still operational today, was established in the New South Wales town of Woolgoolga near Coffs Harbour in 1968.

UrbanDuniya wishes all of its readers a happy Guru Nanak Gurpurab!