On this day Sikhs in Canada, India and around the world celebrate Maghi. This is a holy day for Sikhs in honour of the Chali Mukte, the “Forty Liberated Ones,” who died in defence of the 10th Guru of the Sikh Faith, Guru Gobind Singh.
For more information on Sikhism, check out some of the following links:
Sikhs in Canada and around the world observe the birthday of Guru Gobind Singh who was born on this day in 1666 in Patna, India. He was the 10th and last of the (human) Gurus of Sikhism. He established the Khalsa, the organization of men and women baptized into the Sikh faith. He also established the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhism, as the final Guru for the Sikh people. For more on Guru Gobind Singh and the Sikh faith, check out some of the following links:
Guru Nanak was born in April of 1469 in north-west India, (what is now Pakistan.) He would go on to become the founder of Sikhism as the first of the Ten Gurus of Sikhism. Although his birthday was in April, it is celebrated in November on the day of the full moon. (As such, the date will vary from year to year on the solar calendar, like other lunar based holidays.)
Most Canadians of Indian heritage who live in Canada are Sikhs, including many students at Lord Tweedsmuir, and communities throughout Surrey and Greater Vancouver.
For more on Guru Nanak and Sikhism, check out the SikhWiki, the online “Encyclomedia of the Sikhs.”
Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School Library 