Guru Gobind Singh - the tenth Sikh guru - was born on the Saptami Tithi during Shukla paksha in the month of Poh (paush) -this is according to the Nanakshahi calendar. The day may vary according to the Gregorian calendar every year, but the celebrations take place as per the Nanakshahi Sikh schedule.?
Guru Gobind Singh Ji was born in Patna. He was the son of the ninth Sikh guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, and was chosen as the tenth Guru when he was only nine years old. Guru Gobind Singh, established the Khalsa, at the Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib near Anandpur, in the Indian state of Punjab. This is the place where he spent most of his life in the presence of his father.?
Sikhs gather at this place annually to celebrate Hola Mohalla on the auspicious day of Holi.?
In the year 1699, Guru Gobind Singh requested Sikhs to congregate in Anandpur on Vaisakhi. According to the Sikh tradition, he asked for a volunteer from those who were there - someone willing to sacrifice his head. One came forward, whom he took inside a tent and returned to the crowd without the volunteer, but some blood on his sword. He repeated this process for four more volunteers. After the fifth person went with him into the tent, the Guru returned with all five volunteers, all safe and very much alive. He called them the Panj Pyare and the first Khalsa in the Sikh tradition.?
Guru Gobind Singh then mixed water and sugar in an iron bowl. He started stirring it with a double-edged sword to prepare what he called Amrit. He later administered this to the Panj Pyare, accompanied with recitations from the Adi Granth. He?thus baptized - called?Khande ka pahul in Sikh tradition - all five of them and also gave them the surname 'Singh' (lion). After he baptized all five of them, the Guru then asked them to baptize him as well and that changed his name from Guru Gobind Rai to Guru Gobind Singh.?
Guru Gobind Singh Initiated the Five K¡¯s tradition of the Khalsa:?
Kesh: Uncut hair
Kangha: A wooden comb.
Kara: An iron or steel bracelet worn on the wrist.?
Kirpan: A sword or dagger.
Kacchera: Short breeches.
Guru Gobind Singh was born to ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur and Mata Gujri. He was the only son to them. He was born in Patna on December 22, 1666, Bihar in the Sodhi Khatri Family. His birth name was Gobind Rai.?
In 1670, he and his family returned to Punjab and in March that year, they moved to Himalayan Foothills of north India, called the Shivalik Range, where he was schooled. His father was beheaded in Delhi on November 11, 1675 under the orders of Aurangzeb for refusing to convert to Islam, as part of the ongoing conflict between Sikhism and the Islamic Empire. Following his father¡¯s death, the young nine-year-old Guru Gobind Rai was made tenth Sikh guru on Vaisakhi, on March 29, 1676.?
1. He alone is a man who keeps his word: Not that he has one thing in the heart, and another on the tongue.
2. I came into the world charged with the duty to uphold the right in every place, to destroy sin and evil... The only reason I took birth was to see that righteousness may flourish, that good may live, and tyrants be torn out by their roots.
3. Those who call me God, will fall into the deep pit of hell. Regard me as one of his slaves and have no doubt whatever about it. I am a servant of the Supreme Being; and have come to behold the wonderful drama of life.
4. The greatest comforts and lasting peace are obtained, when one eradicates selfishness from within.
5. In the City of Death, there is pitch darkness and huge clouds of dust, neither sister nor brother is there. This body is frail, old age is overtaking it.
6. Karta (The Creator) and Karim (The beneficent) are the names of the same God. Razak (The provider) and Rahim (The merciful) are also the names given to Him. Let no man in his error wrangle over differences in names. Worship the One God who is the Lord of all. Know that his form is one and He is the One light diffused in all.