Several events celebrating 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Devji held around U.S.

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The 550th birth Anniversary of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji was celebrated in Consulate General of India, New York on Nov. 2, 2019.A large number of members of Indian diaspora and friends of India attended the event, a press release from the Consulate said.

India’s Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty, inaugurated a photo-exhibition entitled, Life & Philosophy of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, at the event. Ambassador Chakravorty dwelt on the relevance of the message and philosophy of Guru Nanak Devji and the significance of ‘Sangat’ and ‘Pangat’ tradition which were started by Guru Nanak Devji.

The Consulate also organized a panel discussion on “Contribution of Sikhs in America” that included several speakers, among them, Mandeep Singh, managing director, Geocom Capital; attorney Ravi Batra; Karambir Kang of Taj Hotels; Country Head ICICI bank Akashdeep Singh Sarpal; Tajinder Singh, publisher of Maha Punjab newspaper; and community member Atma Singh.

The celebration ended with the traditional langar.

Celebrations began from October, including one at Hofstra University, N.Y. where a three-day conference marked the 550th birth anniversary Oct. 10-12. Guru Nanak’s Ek – Anek Vision was the focus. The event was organized by Dr Balbinder Singh Bhogal and Dr Francesca Cassio under the Sardarni Kuljit Kaur Bindra Chair in Sikh Studies and Sardarni Harbans Kaur Chair in Sikh Musicology at Hofstra. More than 30 scholars and artists from all over the world attended. This was the eighth conference at Hofstra  under the Sardarni Kuljit Kaur Bindra Chair since its inception in 2001, a press release said.

At the welcome dinner Tejinder Singh Bindra spoke of the secularism, universal love and equality preached and practiced by Guru Nanak; the importance of equality whether it be among nations, castes , gender or wealth. Indie Singh spoke about the importance of gurmat sangeet in their family and how happy her parents would be at seeing the progress of the musicology chair. Bhai Baldeep Singh was the Keynote speaker.

On Nov. 12, Gerald Krell and Adam Krell, directors of Guru Nanak Documentary were honored at Guru Gobind Singh Foundation USA (GGSF) during the celebrations of the 550th birth-anniversary of Guru Nanak. This is the first ever documentary on Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, which is scheduled for premier screening at the prestigious National Press Club in Washington on November 20, 2019, a press release from the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, said.

“I feel privileged to work on this film and it was a great learning experience for me and my team,” Gerald Krell said while receiving the award. “We feel that the world needs to know about Guru Nanak who was ahead of his times. The documentary will serve as a worldwide educational outreach catalyst for community, dialogue and interfaith understanding.”

Organizers said PBS will facilitate the showing of this documentary on 200 TV stations all over America in coming months. Besides narrating Guru Nanak’s history and key points of Guru Nanak’s teachings, the documentary features such prominent Sikh luminaries ranging from Grammy nominee Snatam Kaur, to Mayor Ravi Bhalla of Hoboken, New Jersey, to show how his positive legacy continues.