Guru Amar Das Ji – A Great Reformer

Third Guru, Guru Amar Das Ji was born on 23rd May, 1479 at Basarke village in District Amritsar,but he came into contact with the house of Guru in the beginning of his seventies. His service to the Guru at that age was so impressive that he was appointed as the third successor in April 1652 at the age of 73 years. Continuing the spiritual task of his predecessors, he preached the principles of Sikhism and himself composed Gurbani, 907 verses of which are now a part of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. One of his compositions ‘Anand Sahib’ is recited every day and at all places whenever the congregation comes to a close. It is also a part of the daily routine recitation compositions of Sikhs His other notable work was the construction of a Baoli at Goindwal sahib so that devotees could take a bath there only instead of going to far off pilgrimage places.He made the concept of Pangat so strong that even emperor Akbar on his visit to him was asked to sit in the pangat and partake langar along with others. The emperor was so much impressed by this tradition that he gave a liberal grant of land for this purpose.Guru Ji was also a social reformer, who challenged old tradition of Parda system and Sati Pratha and instead advocated widow remarriage for improving the quality life of women. When he left for his heavenly abode( joti jot samauna) at the ripe age of 95 on September 16, 1575 at Goindwal Sahib, he appointed Bhai Jetha Ji as his successor