Biography of Guru Nanak to hit the stands on his 550th birth anniversary

A new biography of the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev, will be released on the occasion of his 550th birth anniversary, announced publishing house Penguin on Tuesday.

Written by professor and author Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, the book, titled "The First Sikh: The Life and Legacy of Guru Nanak", claims to be a "majestic and magisterial portrait" of the life and legacy of Guru Nanak.

The book, according to the publisher, "unites rigorous scholarship with a deep love for the subject, offering fascinating insights into the Guru's life and times even as it explores key facets of Sikhism".

"In this highly accessible and comprehensive biography, the author deftly mines the available sources to construct a vivid and complex account of Guru Nanak's life and legacy, his personality and background, the pluralistic world he lived in.

"... Moreover, it shows us how Guru Nanak continues to remain relevant in a twenty-first-century reality," they added.

It is endorsed by intellectuals like Laurie Patton, Professor of Indian religions and president, Middlebury College, Historian Rana Safvi and author Navtej Sarna.

"Guru Nanak's pluralism, humanity and teachings find great resonance in the 21st century in Nikky Singh's lucid work. The First Sikh is an important book for our troubled times," read the blurb given by Safvi.

Presently holding a chair at the department of Religious Studies, Colby College in the USA, Singh earlier books include "Hymns of the Sikh Gurus", "The Birth of the Khalsa" and "Of Sacred and Secular Desire: An Anthology of Lyrical Writings from the Punjab".

November 12 marks the 550th birth anniversary year of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, whose birthplace is Sri Nankana Sahib in Pakistan.