Guru Nanak and His Teachings

The Department of Guru Nanak Studies was converted into a teaching department in 1982. Thereafter, research unfortunately stood relegated to the background, so that we were not able to project the life and teachings of Guru Nanak Dev and their cultural and religious impact in the context of Indian and World civilizations-a statutory obligation (vide Sub clause 2, Article 4 of Guru Nanak Dev University Act, 1969). With a view to boost research, the University authorities decided to hold an annual seminar or Guru Nanak and his teachings on the occasion of the Foundation Day Celebrations of the University which falls in the month of November every year. The responsibility of organizing the Seminar was entrusted to this Department in 1986. The tentative programme for this annual seminar was circumscribed by cultural and social milieu in which Guru Nanak lived and to which he reacted and preached his message of unity of god and brotherhood of man. A comprehensive study of the teachings of Guru Nanak in its religious context could equally benefit the students of Sikhism and researchers of medieval Indian religious thought and to help them to have a better understanding of the past. Besides, it is hoped that with an indepth exercise on the subject under study, it may be possible to discuss quantitatively the motives and magnitude of people who were interested in the teachings of Guru Nanak as well as to comment with certainty on the level of religious consciousness of the contemporary Indian society and the impact of the creative vision of Guru Nanak on the Indian Civilization in terms of time and space in wider perspective