Sikh Community Celebrates Rediscovery of Priceless Handwritten Holy Book in Edinburgh

In a remarkable discovery, a handwritten copy of the Sikh holy scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, has been found in the archives of the University of Edinburgh. The precious manuscript, believed to date back to the 1700s, was uncovered by academics in 2020 and has now been brought to light for the first time in 175 years.

On Sunday, the Sikh community in Scotland gathered at the Edinburgh Gurdwara in Leith to hold a special ceremony honoring the ancient text. The fragile book, the oldest of its kind in the UK, was transported to the temple in a carefully guarded convoy, with a strict no-flash photography rule in place.

As the Guru Granth Sahib was carried through the temple, the congregation waved Sikh and Scottish flags, and a bagpiper played outside. The sacred text was held above head height, as is tradition, while a ceremonial whisk called a chaur sahib was waved continuously over it as a sign of reverence. The priest, Giyani Himit Singh, then read prayers from five pages of the manuscript to the emotional crowd.

"This has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see something that was lost in history and has been revived," said Galab Singh Gold, one of the Edinburgh Gurdwara members who organized the event. "It is the first time it has come into the light and into the congregation after so many years and it will probably be the last time we'll ever see it."