About Guru Granth Sahib

Living Guru

Guru Granth Sahib is the living guru of the sikhs. A sikh lives according to the path guided by Gurbani. Sikhs cover their heads and remove their shoes while in the presence of this sacred scripture.

The Guru Granth Sahib is taken care of by a Granthi, who is responsible for reciting from the sacred hymns and leading Sikh prayers.

The Adi Granth was compiled by the fifth guru, Guru Arjan Dev. It was first installed inside the Golden Temple in Amritsar on 1 September 1604. Baba Buddha was appointed as the first Head Granthi of the Golden Temple.

Composition

The entire Guru Granth Sahib is written in the Gurmukhi script, which was standardized by Guru Angad in the 16th century.

The text contains 1430 pages/angs, about 5 lakh words. There are 5,894 shabads. Each shabad has been specified to be sung in one of the 31 classical Indian ragas. The total ragas exceeds 60 - 31 single raags and 29 mixed raags composed by combining two or three raags together.

The languages used are Punjabi, regional Prakrits, Apabhramsa, Sanskrit, Braj Bhasha, Bangru, Awadhi, Old Hindi, Bhojpuri, Sindhi, Marathi, Marwari, Bengali, Persian and Arabic.

See also: Guru Granth Sahib (Sikhiwiki)

Following is the list of ragas -

1. Asa (appears on ang/page 8)
2. Gujari (appears on ang/page 10)
3. Gauri Deepaki (appears on ang/page 12)
4. Dhanasri (appears on ang/page 13)
5. Gauri Poorabi (appears on ang/page 13)
6. Sri (appears on ang/page 14)
7. Majh (appears on ang/page 94)
8. Gauri Guarairee (appears on ang/page 151)
9. Gauri (appears on ang/page 151)
10. Gauri Dakhani (appears on ang/page 152)
11. Gauri Chaitee (appears on ang/page 154)
12. Gauri Bairagan (appears on ang/page 155)
13. Gauri Poorabi Deepaki (appears on ang/page 157)
14. Gauri Majh (appears on ang/page 172)
15. Gauri Malva (appears on ang/page 214)
16. Gauri Mala (appears on ang/page 214)
17. Gauri Sorath (appears on ang/page 330)
18. Asa Kafi (appears on ang/page 365)
19. Asavari (appears on ang/page 369)
20. Asa Asavari (appears on ang/page 409)
21. Devgandhari (appears on ang/page 527)
22. Bihagra (appears on ang/page 537)
23. Vadhans (appears on ang/page 557)
24. Vadhans Dakhani (appears on ang/page 580)
25. Sorath (appears on ang/page 595)
26. Jaitsri (appears on ang/page 696)
27. Todi (appears on ang/page 711)
28. Bairarri (appears on ang/page 719)
29. Tilang (appears on ang/page 721)
30. Tilang Kafi (appears on ang/page 726)
31. Suhee (appears on ang/page 728)
32. Suhee Kafi (appears on ang/page 751)
33. Suhee Lalit (appears on ang/page 793)
34. Bilaval (appears on ang/page 795)
35. Bilaval Dakhani (appears on ang/page 843)
36. Gound (appears on ang/page 859)
37. Bilaval Gound (appears on ang/page 874)
38. Ramkali (appears on ang/page 876)
39. Ramkali Dakhani (appears on ang/page 907)
40. Nut Narayan (appears on ang/page 975)
41. Nut (appears on ang/page 975)
42. Mali Gaura (appears on ang/page 984)
43. Maru (appears on ang/page 989)
44. Maru Kafi (appears on ang/page 1014)
45. Maru Dakhani (appears on ang/page 1033)
46. Tukhari (appears on ang/page 1107)
47. Kedara (appears on ang/page 1118)
48. Bhairo (appears on ang/page 1125)
49. Basant (appears on ang/page 1168)
50. Basant Hindol (appears on ang/page 1170)
51. Sarang (appears on ang/page 1197)
52. Malar (appears on ang/page 1254)
53. Kanra (appears on ang/page 1294)
54. Kaliyan (appears on ang/page 1319)
55. Kaliyan Bhopali (appears on ang/page 1321)
56. Parbhati Bibhas (appears on ang/page 1327)
57. Parbhati (appears on ang/page 1327)
58. Parbhati Dakhani (appears on ang/page 1344)
59. Bibhas Parbhati (appears on ang/page 1347)
60. Jaijavanti (appears on ang/page 1352)

Contributors

Six gurus have contributed: - Guru Nanak (974), Guru Angad (62), Guru Amar Das (907), Guru Ram Das (679), Guru Arjan (2218) and Guru Tegh Bahadur (116).

Bhagats of the bhakti movement: - Bhagat Kabir (541), Bhagat Jayadeva (2), Bhagat Ramanand (1), Bhagat Namdev (60), Bhagat Trilochan (5), Bhagat Parmanand (1), Bhagat Pipa (1), Bhagat Sain (1), Bhagat Surdas (1), Bhagat Ravidas (41), Baba Sundar (6), Balvand Rai (1).

Bhatts: (Bhatts are poets with the personal experience and vision of the spirituality of the Gurus) - Bhatt Balh (1), Bhatt Bhalh (5), Bhatt Bhika (2), Bhatt Gayand (13), Bhatt Harbans (2), Bhatt Jalap (5), Bhatt Kirat (8), Bhatt Kalshar (54), Bhatt Mathura (14), Bhatt Nalh (16), Bhatt Salh (3).

Pirs: - Bhagat Farid (134), Bhagat Bhikhan (2), Bhagat Beni (3), Bhagat Sadhana (1), Bhagat Dhanna (4).

Gursikhs - Bhai Satta (4), Balvand Rai (8), Bhai Mardana (12), Baba Sunder (10), Bhai Piara (53).

See also: Writers of the Guru Granth Sahib

Useful Links

1. Writers of the Guru Granth Sahib
2. ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਦੇ ਬਾਣੀਕਾਰ ਅਤੇ ਬਾਣੀ
3. Guru Granth Sahib (Sikhiwiki)
4. ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਬਾਰੇ