Guru Nanak Jayanti 2026
24 November 2026

Guru Nanak Jayanti is the prakash purab (gurpurab) of Guru Nanak Dev ji, the first Guru of the Sikhs. By the Janamsakhi tradition he was born in 1469 at Rai Bhoi di Talwandi, now Nankana Sahib in Pakistan. Some historians place the birth in Vaisakh, but the Sikh panth keeps the gurpurab on Kartik Puranmashi, the full moon of Kartik, and the whole sangat celebrates it on that day.

Guru Nanak Dev ji taught that there is one Creator, to be remembered in every breath, and that all people are equal before that One. His teaching is often summed up in three principles: naam japo (remember the Name), kirat karo (earn by honest work) and vand chhako (share with others). The gurpurab is kept with Akhand Path, kirtan, katha, langar and gurdwaras lit up for the night.

Source: Sikh tradition, the Janamsakhis

Guru Nanak Dev ji was born at Talwandi to Mehta Kalu and Mata Tripta. The Janamsakhis tell that from childhood he turned more to the Creator than to worldly matters, and that his elder sister, Bebe Nanaki, was the first to recognise him. As a young man he worked at Sultanpur Lodhi.

There, the Janamsakhis say, he went into the river Vein and did not return for three days. When he came back, his first words were that there is no Hindu and no Musalman, meaning that all are one before the Creator. He then set out on long journeys, the udasis, with his companion Bhai Mardana playing the rabab, sharing his bani wherever he went.

In his last years he settled at Kartarpur, where he farmed and the sangat cooked and ate together in langar, living out naam japo, kirat karo and vand chhako. Before he passed on, he named Bhai Lehna as his successor, Guru Angad Dev ji. The Mool Mantar he gave, beginning Ik Onkar, opens the Guru Granth Sahib.

What to do

• Join a prabhat pheri or the Nagar Kirtan, as the sangat comes together for the Guru in the days before.
• Give some sewa in the langar, cooking, serving or washing up, in the spirit of vand chhako.
• Sit in the pangat with everyone for langar, as the Guru’s langar seats all people together as equals.
• Listen to the kirtan and katha, or read the Japji Sahib at home, which begins with the Mool Mantar.

What to avoid

• By the gurdwara’s custom, cover your head and remove your shoes before entering, and wash your hands and feet.
• Tobacco and alcohol are not brought into the gurdwara or near the sangat, by the gurdwara’s custom.
• Sit on the floor in the darbar and avoid turning your back towards the Guru Granth Sahib, as a mark of respect.

The day is called Guru Nanak Gurpurab, Prakash Purab or Prakash Utsav of Guru Nanak Dev ji, and is kept by the Sikh sangat everywhere, and by many Hindu families of Punjab and Sindhi families who revere Guru Nanak. Jathas of pilgrims travel from India to Nankana Sahib for the gurpurab, and gurdwaras abroad often hold the Nagar Kirtan on the nearest weekend.

Because it is kept on Kartik Puranmashi, a lunar date, the gurpurab moves each year in the Gregorian calendar, falling in October or November. Gurdwaras follow the gurpurab dates the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee announces in its calendar each year.