Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is a holy book of the Sikhs. The Sikhs treat this Granth (holy book) as a living Guru. The holy text spans 1430 pages and contains the actual words spoken by the founders of the Sikh religion (the Ten Gurus of Sikhism) and various other Saints from other religions including Hinduism and Islam.
The "Adi Granth" (Punjabi: The First book) is considered by many to be the same as Shri Guru Granth Sahib but the Guru Granth Sahib is an expansion of the Adi Granth which was written in 1604.
The SGGS was given the Guruship by the last of the living Sikh Masters, Guru Gobind Singh Ji in 1708. Guru Gobind Singh said before his demise that the Sikhs were to treat the SGGS as their next Guru.
Guru Ji said "Sab Sikhan ko hokam hai Guru Manyo Granth" meaning "All Sikhs are commanded to take the Granth as Guru".
When one visits a Sikh Temple or Gurdwara the SGGS forms the Main Part of the Darbar Sahib or Main Hall. The holy Book is placed on a dominant platform and covered in very beautiful and attractive coloured fine cloth. The platform is always covered by a canopy, which is also decorated in expensive and very attractive coloured materials. The text used is a script called Gurmukhi, which is considered a modern development of the ancient language called Sanskrit.
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