Ruhani Kirtan Updash at USA 20 November 2024

As mentioned in SikiWiki, (akhand = uninterrupted, without break; path = reading) is nonstop, continuous recital of the Guru Granth Sahib from beginning to end. Such a recital is normally completed within 48 hours. The entire Holy Volume, 1430 large pages, is read through in a continuous ceremony. This "ritual" is considered a very holy practise and is said to bring peace and solace to the participants and the passive listener of the recitation.

This reading must go on day and night, without a moment's intermission. The relay of reciters who take turns at reading the scripture must ensure that no break occurs. As they change places at given intervals, one picks the line from his predecessor's lips and continues. When and how the custom of reciting the canon in its entirety in one continuous service began is not known. Conjecture traces it to the turbulent days of the eighteenth century when persecution had scattered the Sikhs to far off places. In those exilic, uncertain times, the practice of accomplishing a reading of the Holy Book by a continuous recital is believed to have originated.

Important days on the Sikh calendar are marked by akhand paths in gurdwaras. Celebrations and ceremonies in Sikh families centre upon akhand paths. The homes are filled with holiness for those two days and nights as the Guru Granth Sahib, installed with ceremony in a room, especially cleaned out for the occasion, is being recited. Apart from lending the air sanctity, such readings make available to listeners the entire text. The listeners come as they wish and depart at their will. Thus they keep picking up snatches of the bani from different portions at different times. Without such ceremonial recitals, the Guru Granth Sahib, large in volume, would remain generally inaccessible to the laity except for barns which are recited by the Sikhs as part of their daily devotions.