Gurgaddi of Guru Ram Das · Gurgaddi Divas Guru Ram Das

Culture of origin: Sikh · Cultural

Holiday sources: Sikhism

Guru Amar Das weighed four candidates for his successor, his sons-in-law Ramu and Jetha and his sons Mohan and Mohri, and set them four tests; it is said that only Jetha passed them all. Shortly before his death in 1574, Amar Das anointed Jetha's forehead with sandal paste, as the Ramkali Sadu by his great-grandson Baba Sundar records, and Jetha became Guru Ram Das; sources give the day as August 30 or September 1, 1574. Ram Das founded the town first called Guru ka Chakk, then Ramdaspur and later Amritsar. The SGPC keeps the day on Bhadon sudi 13, two days before Guru Amar Das's Joti Jot.