Observance of Guru Har Rai Punya Divas
Guru Har Rai Punya Divas is observed to remember the seventh guru of the Sikh religion and to pay reverence to Him for His grace and kindness towards his followers and devotees. He is lovingly called “Prophet of Tranquility” by his devotees. He led the Sikh community after Guru Hargobind Ji, the sixth leader of the Sikh tradition. Guru Har Rai Sahib was very strict about following the original verses of Guru Granth Sahib and the basic conventions as laid down by Guru Nanak Sahib, the first Sikh Guru.On the day of Guru Har Rai Punya Divas, Sikhs all over the world pay obeisance to Him for helping keep the Sikh tradition intact and ensuring that the Sikh community exhibit unity and solidarity during his Gatti. His three main policies – giving importance of ‘langar’, ‘honest labor’, and importance of Sikh Scripture and worshiping in the early morning – are remembered and followed by Sikhs. He insisted that the hymns in the Holy Scripture benefits the heart and the soul, even when recited without knowing their meaning.
Life History of Guru Har Rai
Guru Har Rai was born to Baba Gurdita and Mata Nihal Kaur on January 16, 1630. He was born in a place called Kiratpur of Punjab, India. He married Mata Krishan Kaur, also called as Sulakhni. He had two sons. The elder son was Baba Ram Rai and the younger was Guru Har Krishan. Guru Har Rai became the seventh Guru of Sikkism on March 8, 1644, at a very young age of 14.Guru Har Rai was a peace-loving person by nature, though He was a person of valor and maintained an army of 2200 Sikh soldiers. Due to His tranquil nature, He never allowed any controversies to crop up between the Mughal warriors and the Sikh warriors groomed up by his grandfather, Guru Hargobind. His philosophy was to be brave for self-defense and not be offensive at any cost. He used to encourage the Sikh warriors with awards of gallantry and honorary robes for exhibiting bravery.
Guru Har Rai Sahib’s Kindness for Lives
Guru Har Rai Sahib founded an Ayurvedic and herbal medicines dispensary, a medical research center as well as a zoo at His birthplace of Kiratpur. Once He had saved the life of Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Shah Jahan, by prescribing him appropriate medicines, when all other physicians in the kingdom lost hope to revert him back to normalcy from an unknown disease.Guru Har Rai Sahib’s Robustness in Religious Matters
Guru Har Rai was well-known for ex-communicating his elder son Ram Rai Ji from the Sikh tradition for altering the original verses of Guru Granth Sahib, when the latter was asked for explanation and meaning for a particular verse by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.Guru Har Rai left his mortal body on October 6, 1661 at Kiratpur. He was succeeded by His younger son, Guru Harkrishan Ji, who was to become the revered eighth leader of Sikh tradition at a tender age of 5.