There is a depth of human endurance which passes into the realm of the divine, where screaming and anger and pleas for mercy are no longer there, but a terrifying serenity is. To face absolute cruelty and respond to it with love, is perhaps the rarest of all human qualities.
The Sikh Community around the world commemorates Guru Arjan Dev Martyrdom Day (Shaheedi Divas) every year. The date varies each year as the day is celebrated on the basis of traditional Nanakshahi calendar and in 2026 it falls on June 16.
The Faithful One Who is Visionary in Architecture
To fully appreciate his martyrdom, it is important to know who Guru Arjan Dev Ji was in his human form. He was no military leader, but a poet, scholar, builder, and visionary of radical inclusivity.
He was born in Goindwal in 1563 to Guru Ram Das Ji (4th Sikh Guru) and Mata Bhani Ji and became a Guru in 1581. It was indeed a golden era for the young Sikh community, of consolidation as well as cultural flowering.
The anchor of brick and mortar, the spiritual constitution, the radical social equality.
- Central Shrine in Amritsar: Guru Ji designed and built Harmandir Sahib (The Golden Temple). This was an interfaith gesture of solidarity, a beautiful and humanizing gesture, as he invited the Sufi Muslim saint, Mian Mir, to lay its foundation stone. He drew plans for the temple, which had four doors, one at each cardinal point, stating that the house of God, the temple itself, would be open to all castes, creeds and genders without any restrictions.
- Adi Granth: Guru Ji wrote the first complete version of the Sikh Scriptures in 1604. He did not only include the hymns of the earlier Sikh Gurus, but also the verses of Hindu and Muslim saints such as Kabir, Baba Farid, Ravidas, and Namdev, and thus formed a spiritual charter of universal brotherhood.
- Social Reforms: He promoted the free community kitchen – the institution of Langar, and founded the city of Taran Taran with a separate sanctuary and care center for people with leprosy who were ostracized by the mainstream community.
The Gathering Storm is a book of political and religious envy
As Guru Arjan Dev Ji gained more popularity the Harmandir Sahib was transformed into a place where spiritual and economic activities flourished. People from all walks of life—Hindus, Muslims and lowest people of the caste system—crowded into Amritsar.
This rise from the earth caused terror among the orthodox group of the ruling Mughal Empire. The political climate was sour after Akbar’s death in 1605 and his son Jahangir took over. Jahangir was keen to please the fundamentalist court factions. The Emperor himself spoke in his own personal memoirs – Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri – about his discomfort over Guru Arjan’s popularity, “many simple-minded Hindus, and even foolish Muslims, had been fascinated by his ways.
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Chabeel: A sweetness of inheritance
Today, in an extraordinarily unique, humanizing tradition, the memory of that hideous June week lives on. While on Guru Arjan Dev Martyrdom Day, instead of anger, a Sikh sets up a road-side stall known as Chabeel to all strangers in love.
Under the sweltering summer sun, volunteers roam the pavement waving out to passing motorcyclists, laborers and pedestrians of all races to drink enormously chilled pink water mixed with milk and rose syrup, all sweetened with sugar. Under all this hot sun, volunteers flag motorcyclists, labourers and pedestrians as they pass by, giving them large glasses of an ice cold sweetened pink drink made from water, milk and rose syrup, both sweetened with sugar.
It is a radical shift in thinking. The historical memory of their Guru not being given water and his being tortured with the heat is quenched with the sweetness with which the entire world is quenched. It is the ultimate reminder of Guru Arjan Dev Ji’s life “Duty is to be an ocean of peace, no matter what the world throws at you.
