PANJ GRANTHI is the name given in Punjabi to a "pothi" or small book containing five chosen texts, from the Guru Granth Sahib. The word "panj" means "five" and "granthi" is the diminutive form of granth (holy book). The Guru Granth Sahib is a large volume and can be enthroned and opened for recitation only in the prescribed ritualistic manner in gurdwaras or in a room especially set apart in a private house for this purpose.
To facilitate private recitation or study of selected barns, small anthologies began to be prepared. They origin of the Gutka (literally a casket of gems; a breviary) is traced to the time of Guru Ram Das. A gutka comprising the text of the Japji in Guru Ram Das own hand is still preserved in a descendant family at Kartarpur, in Jalandhar district of the Punjab.
A gutka as a rule contained one bani, mostly Japji, but later it took the form of the Panj Granthi incorporating five of the banis. The Panj Granthi, as it first appeared, included the Japji by Guru Nanak; So Dar and So Purakh, collectively known as Rehras and containing verses by Guru Nanak and by Guru Ram Das, Sohilla verses by Guru Nanak, Guru Ram Das and Guru Arjan. Also, sometimes Asd ki Var by Guru Nanak, and Anand by Guru Amar Das.
As the number of professional copyists multiplied, gutkas and panj granthis began to have enlarged texts. In the course of time, Panj Granthi, as a title, became a misnomer, for the anthology no longer remained confined to the initial five banis. The name did survive, though more in the symbolic sense. A current Panj Granthi gathered by Bhai Vir Singh (1872-1957) comprises ten banis Japji, Jaap, Shabad Hajara, Rehras, Sohilla, Sidh Gost, Anand, Bavan Akhan, Sukhmani and Asa ki Var.
Japji, Jaap, Rehras, Sohilla and Anand are usually the five daily prayers of the Sikhs. The devout also include in their daily regimen Shabad Hajare and Sukhmani in the morning. Asa ki Var sung in the gurdwaras in the early hours of the morning. For its constituent texts, Panj Granthi continues exclusively to draw upon the Guru Granth Sahib, whereas the gutkas now include banis from the Guru Granth Sahib as well as from the Dasam Granth.
Also note that Dakhni Oaankaar is part of panj granthi which is not stated above.
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