Sri Guru Nanak Dev

Subject: History

Context:

Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (IC) has inaugurated a Sangeet Sandhya programme as a part of the 550th Birth Anniversary celebrations of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji in New Delhi.

Concept:

• Guru Nanak Dev (1469-1539) was born in a village, Talwandi Rai Bhoe, near Lahore (it was renamed later as Nankana Sahib).
• Guru Nanak Dev initiated inter-faith dialogue way back in the 16th century and had conversations with most of the religious denominations of his times.
• His written compositions were included in the AdiGranth compiled by Guru Arjan (1563-1606), the fifth Sikh guru.
• The cornerstone of the philosophy of Nanak Dev Ji is that he was an altruistic, which means that God is everywhere, that God is present in all the elements, substances and beings of the world and God is everything. 
• He was opposed to idol worship and in addition he always opposed the evils spread in Hinduism. He told the path of worship of a divine being. This is the reason that his views are liked by people of both Hindu and Muslim religions.