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Gurpurab 2026: when it is, and how to celebrate it with your kids
Guru Nanak Dev Ji's 557th Parkash Purab falls on Tuesday, 24 November 2026 (Katak Puranmashi). (A Parkash Purab (par-kaash pur-ab) — the day a Guru came into the world — literally "the day the light appeared" is the Guru's birthday.) Most gurdwaras hold the bhog (bhohg) — the moment a full reading of the Guru Granth Sahib Ji is completed, usually on the morning of the celebration of their Akhand Path (a-khand paath) — a continuous reading of the Guru Granth Sahib Ji from beginning to end, taking about two days and their main diwan (dee-waan) — the gathering in the main hall — singing, listening, and being together on the day itself, with prabhat pheri (pruh-bhaat fay-ree) — an early-morning walk with singing, in the days leading up to the celebration on the mornings leading up to it.
80 sleeps to go.
ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਪ੍ਰਗਟਿਆ ਮਿਟੀ ਧੁੰਧੁ ਜਗਿ ਚਾਨਣੁ ਹੋਆ।
"With the emergence of the true Guru Nanak, the mist cleared and the light scattered all around."
Some gurdwaras follow the Mool Nanakshahi calendar and observe the Parkash Purab on 1 Vaisakh (14 April) instead. Both are kept with love; here's why the two dates exist.
All Gurpurab dates this year
| Gurpurab | Date | Follows |
|---|---|---|
| Guru Har Rai Sahib Ji | Sat, 31 January 2026 | 18 Maagh (Nanakshahi) |
| Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji | Tue, 7 April 2026 | 25 Chet (Nanakshahi) |
| Guru Arjan Dev Ji | Thu, 9 April 2026 | 27 Chet (Nanakshahi) |
| Guru Angad Dev Ji | Sat, 18 April 2026 | 05 Vaisakh (Nanakshahi) |
| Guru Amar Das Ji | Thu, 30 April 2026 | 17 Vaisakh (Nanakshahi) |
| Guru Arjan Dev Ji | Thu, 18 June 2026 | 04 Harh (Nanakshahi) |
| Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji | Tue, 30 June 2026 | 16 Harh (Nanakshahi) |
| Guru Har Krishan Sahib Ji | Fri, 7 August 2026 | 23 Savan (Nanakshahi) |
| Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji — First Prakash | Sat, 12 September 2026 | 27 Bhadon (Nanakshahi) |
| Guru Ram Das Ji | Tue, 27 October 2026 | 11 Katak (Nanakshahi) |
| Guru Nanak Dev Ji | Tue, 24 November 2026 | Katak Puranmashi |
| Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji | Mon, 14 December 2026 | 29 Maghar (Nanakshahi) |
| Guru Gobind Singh Ji | Fri, 15 January 2027 | 02 Magh (Nanakshahi) |
What a Gurpurab is
Gurpurab (ਗੁਰਪੁਰਬ) means "the Guru's day". It marks something important in the life of one of the ten Gurus — most often the day they were born, which is called a Parkash Purab. Guru Nanak Dev Ji's is the one most families mean when they say "Gurpurab".
What to say to your kids
Borrow these. Three sentences at the dinner table is plenty.
- Today is the birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the first of our ten Gurus.
- He taught that there is one light in every single person — so nobody is above anybody else, and everybody eats together.
- That's why we go to the gurdwara today, and why everyone gets fed. It's the happiest day of our year.
Where are you?
However much time you have left, there is something worth doing. Pick the one that's true today.
Celebrating Gurpurab at home
In our family, Gurpurab doesn't start on the day. It starts somewhere in September, when the evenings get dark and I catch myself counting. If you didn't grow up leading any of this, that's the first useful thing to know: nobody is doing it perfectly, and the build-up is most of the joy.
Weeks before
- any age Put a Guru Nanak Dev Ji shabad playlist on the TV in the evenings. Nobody has to sit and listen. It just becomes the sound of the house for a few weeks, and the kids start humming things without being taught.
- 4–7 read aloud · 7+ alone Read one sakhi (saa-khee) — a story from the life of a Guru, told to children for hundreds of years a week. One a week is genuinely enough — by the time the day arrives they know who he was, and you haven't run a curriculum.
- any age Our prabhat pheri start at the gurdwara. Ours are laps of the car park — half an hour, a few people leading and singing, everyone else following and singing along.
Back home the sangat (sung-at) — everyone gathered together — the congregation, but warmer than that word sounds walks through the town, and people come out of their homes to welcome them as they pass. That's the part that didn't make it here. The singing did, the walking did, the cold morning did — but the street doesn't know what we're doing. I miss it every year. And we go anyway, and the kids think the car park is completely normal, which is its own kind of answer.
The week before
- any age We clean the house and get it in order. Not a deep clean — the kind you'd do before people you like are coming to stay.
- 7+ with help Get the decorations out. This year we're making a Nishan Sahib (ni-shaan saa-hib) — the tall saffron flag outside every gurdwara — the one your kids can spot from the car for the house out of a dowel and orange fabric. It will not be perfect. That's rather the point.
The night before
The lights go up. If you do exactly one thing on this whole page, do this one — let the kids put the lights up, outside if you can, and leave them on. Every child who has ever celebrated anything remembers the night the house looked different. That's the memory. It costs an hour.
The day
I take the day off work. I'm not going to pretend that's available to everyone — if it isn't, protect the evening instead and treat it the way you'd treat a birthday dinner: phones down, their favourite food, everyone at the table. The day off is what I do. It is not the price of entry.
- Japji Sahib together in the morning. We read it as a family. If you can't read Gurmukhi, read it in English or play it and listen — nobody is marking you. Japji Sahib, pauri by pauri.
- Gifts, in the morning. In our family the kids get presents on Gurpurab. That isn't a rule anyone handed me — it's a decision we made, because our children are surrounded by Decembers and I wanted this day to be the one they can't wait for. Do what fits your family.
- Their favourite food. Whatever it actually is. This is the day to cook it.
- The gurdwara, afternoon or evening, and we stay till night. The bhog is in the morning, the diwan runs all day, and the building slowly fills. Our kids listen to kirtan for a bit, do seva (say-vaa) — helping out without being asked and without being paid — the everyday kind, like washing dishes in the langar (lung-ar) — the free kitchen — a hot meal served to anyone who walks in, sitting together on the floor hall, and mostly tear around with their friends. All three of those count.
Making prashad, if you've never done it
It's equal parts flour, ghee, sugar and water. That's the whole recipe. Melt the ghee, cook the flour in it gently until it smells nutty and turns golden, add the sugar dissolved in hot water, and stir until it comes together. Kids can do the stirring. It is much harder to get wrong than it looks.
One honest note, because nobody tells you this and it's awkward to find out later: what you make in your own kitchen is prashad — a sweet dish you've made with care. The degh (dayg) — the warm, sweet, buttery pudding shared with everyone at the gurdwara handed to you at the gurdwara has had ardaas (ar-daas) — the standing prayer said together before something begins or ends said over it, and that is what makes it what it is. They're not the same thing, and it's worth knowing the difference before someone assumes you already do.
If you're starting from nothing
Make their favourite food. Protect the time. Give them something. Be with them all day if you can and all evening if you can't. That's it — that's the whole method. Make the day feel like the best day of the year and they will carry it, and one day they'll do it for their own kids and won't be able to tell you exactly why. The learning arrives on its own. The memory has to be built on purpose.
Your Gurpurab, at a glance
Six things. That's the whole plan.
The week before
- Put a Guru Nanak shabad playlist on in the evenings
- Read one sakhi with the kids
- Get the decorations out — lights up the night before
On the day
- Japji Sahib together in the morning
- Their favourite food, and something sweet you made
- Gurdwara in the afternoon — stay for langar
maastarji.com — free Sikhi resources for families