The Golden Temple, in Amritsar [Images], Punjab, glowed like a jewel on September 1, the 403rd anniversary of the installation of the revered Guru Granth Sahib in this Sikh shrine.

The Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs, was declared equal to a living guru by Guru Gobind Singh, the last guru of the Sikhs in 1708. 

Guru Gobind Singh said that on his death the Guru Granth would become the next Guru. This book of  5,000 hymns and 1,430 pages is the receptacle of all Sikhs teachings as well as words of wisdom of other saints like Kabir and Tulsi Das.

From the 16th century onwards these hymns or couplets of religious discourse from all the Sikh gurus were gradually collected and assembled. It was finally complete in 1604 and installed in the Golden Temple

To mark this special day a procession, that ended at the Harmandir Sahib, was organised by the priests of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee.  Wearing colourful robes devotees chanted hymns as they proceeded to the temple.

Photograph: A Sikh boy lights an oil lamp in front of the Golden Temple
Image: Narinder Nanu/AFP/ Getty Images

Also see: Boley So Nihaal Sat Sri Akal