Sikh Environment Day

14^th March the day on which Guru Har Rai ji became the seventh Guru will be celebrated as Sikh environment day. Guru Har Rai ji were not only admirer of trees and plants but maintained a garden of herbal plants which he used as medicines for sick people. He was known for growing rare medicinal plants and was summoned by emperor Shahjahan when prince was sick and needed cure.

All that is created by the Supreme Creator’s Will has special mention in Gurbani in more than one way. Many Gurdwaras that have surplus land create beautiful Gardens and apart from ornamental plants also grow fruit trees and distribute fruits as Prasad. The Gurdwara at Khadoor Sahib practices this as tradition. This Gurdwara also did a major environment project during Guru Angad Devji birth centenary and planted trees on all roads reaching here in circle of 25 to 50 kms. They have undertaken plantation of fruit and forest trees along the peripheral roads of 40 villages under their jurisdiction. Their next project is to purify air quality and for that they are planting Neem trees in every house. These plants are given as Prasad to villagers.

The golden Temple or Har mandir Sahib also distributes plants as Prasad. Many Gurdwaras have plant nurseries for this purpose. The interdependence of nature and man has been understood very well in Sikhism but still we failed to understand the grand designs of multinational companies that produce insecticides, pesticides and inorganic fertilizers and have been misguided by the promotion of their products by premier research institutes and universities and polluted our ground water to irreversible stage. Nature is a great beneficiary of human kind and if we continue abusing it will cease to benefit human kind.