Sukhmani Sahib Path and Akhand Path invitations: what to write, in English and Punjabi

What a Sukhmani Sahib path is

A Sukhmani Sahib path is the reading of Sukhmani Sahib, the bani of Guru Arjan Dev Ji, the fifth Guru, with the family and sangat listening. Sukhmani is usually translated as the jewel of peace, or peace of mind. It has 24 ashtpadis, each opening with a salok, in Raag Gauri, and it runs from Ang 262 to Ang 296 of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Guru Arjan Dev Ji composed it around 1602 at Ramsar, in Amritsar.

Read at a steady pace it takes about an hour to an hour and a half. Families read it together, take turns, or ask the gurdwara's granthi to lead it, at home or in the gurdwara. There is often kirtan after it, and the programme closes with the Anand Sahib, the Ardas for the occasion, the Hukamnama and Karah Prasad, then langar. Because it fits in a morning, guests are invited to the whole of it.

What an Akhand Path is, and what the Bhog means

An Akhand Path is the unbroken reading of the whole of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, all 1430 Angs, from the first page to the last, by a relay of readers called pathis. It takes about 48 hours, so it usually starts on one morning and ends on the morning of the third day: a path that begins on a Friday morning ends on Sunday morning. The Sikh Rehat Maryada, the code of conduct the SGPC publishes, says it is held at hard times or on occasions of joy.

It opens with the Arambh: Karah Prasad is placed before the Guru Granth Sahib, the six pauris of Anand Sahib are recited, the Ardas is said, a Hukamnama is taken, and the reading begins. It ends with the Bhog: the last pages are read, closing with the Mundavani, or with the Raag Mala where that is the custom of the place. The sangat gathers, there is usually kirtan, and the programme closes with the Anand Sahib, the Ardas, the Hukamnama and Karah Prasad, before Guru ka Langar. By tradition, langar is ready all through the path.

The Rehat Maryada also asks that the family or sangat holding an Akhand Path read it themselves where they can, with a competent reader where they cannot, and that someone from the family or sangat is always listening. So an Akhand Path invitation can ask relatives to come and listen at any time between the Arambh and the Bhog, not only for the Bhog.

A Sehaj Path is the same complete reading done with breaks, over days or weeks, with no time limit. It also ends with a Bhog.

Sukhmani Sahib, Akhand Path or Sehaj Path: the difference

Which path for which occasion

• A birthday. A Sukhmani Sahib path is a common choice: a morning at home or in the gurdwara, the Ardas for the child or the elder, then langar. Some families hold an Akhand Path for a milestone birthday.
• A new house. Many families hold a path in the new house: a Sukhmani Sahib path with the Ardas, or an Akhand Path for a bigger gathering. Put the new address on the card with a map pin, because nobody has been there yet.
• A wedding. Many Sikh families begin the wedding days with an Akhand Path or a Sehaj Path at home or in the gurdwara, often over the weekend before the wedding, from a Friday morning to the Bhog on Sunday. Others keep a Sukhmani Sahib path on the morning of another function. Each family may hold its own.
• An anniversary, a new business, a recovery, or a thank you. A Sukhmani Sahib path or an Akhand Path, as the family wishes.
• In remembrance. After a death, families hold a Sehaj Path or an Akhand Path, and its Bhog is followed by the Antim Ardas. That invitation is quiet: the name, the day, the time and the place, and no words of celebration.

The path as the first function of a wedding

When families put a path or a kirtan on their wedding invitation this season, it was always the first function, and it was at home.

• Named so every guest understands it. One family called the morning Gurbani and Kirtan, with the Bhog of the path first and the kirtan after it. Another held a satsang and kirtan on the bride's side, followed by a bangle ceremony and the ladies' sangeet, all one afternoon. A Hindu family on our calls put a kirtan on the first day of its wedding too.
• Everyone is invited to it. When a family sent different links to different guests, the path stayed on every link, even the one without the wedding.
• Ik Onkar first. On an invitation link, Ik Onkar goes on the opening screen, the first thing a guest sees, with Ik Onkar Satgur Prasad over the path's card and the palki sahib picture on the first page.
• Gurbani in Gurmukhi, checked letter by letter. Families send the Gurbani line they want in Gurmukhi. Have someone who reads Gurmukhi check every letter on the first version, before anyone else sees it.
• A map only if someone needs it. For a path at the family home, or at the gurdwara everyone goes to, some families leave the map off ('sabko pata hai'). Keep it if anyone is coming from another city, or to a new house.

When the invitation goes out, and who sends it

• The family holding the path sends it, in the names of its elders. When the path is in the gurdwara, the family still invites its own people; the sangat there is welcome as always.
• About a week before a Sukhmani Sahib path, and one to two weeks before the Arambh of an Akhand Path, so relatives from other cities can plan around the Bhog.
• Part of a wedding? The path goes on the wedding invitation itself, as the first function.
• Call the elders first, then send the message or the link to everyone else.
• A reminder the evening before. For an Akhand Path, remind people before the Bhog rather than the Arambh: that is when most guests come.

What to put on the card

• Ik Onkar and the Fateh at the top: Ik Onkar Satgur Prasad, then Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.
• The path, by its full name: Sri Sukhmani Sahib Path, Sri Akhand Path Sahib or Sri Sehaj Path Sahib. Call it a path, not a puja.
• The occasion, in one line: a birthday, a new house, a wedding, a thank you.
• The times. For a Sukhmani Sahib path, when it starts and when the Ardas is. For an Akhand Path, both dates with their times: the Arambh and the Bhog.
• Kirtan, if a ragi jatha is coming, with its name if you like.
• Guru ka Langar, and when it is served.
• The place: the gurdwara's name, or your address with a map pin of the gate, the floor and which door to use.
• A line for guests from other faiths: heads covered, shoes off.
• The family's name, elders first.
• A reply, only if you need a langar count.

The Punjabi words for the card

These are the Punjabi phrases a path invitation uses, in Roman letters, with what each means. The full messages are in the samples below. If you want them in Gurmukhi on a printed card, ask someone who reads it to check every letter: a wrong matra is worse than none.

What guests should know

Put a line of this on the card if friends from other faiths are coming. They would much rather read it the day before than find out at the door.

• Cover your head, everyone, whatever their faith. Keep a few scarves or rumals at the door, and say so.
• Shoes off before entering the room where the path is.
• No tobacco or alcohol anywhere near the path, and nobody arrives having had either.
• Everyone sits on the floor. Mention it, so anyone who needs a chair can ask.
• Phones on silent during the path and the Ardas.
• Stay for langar. It is a simple vegetarian meal, and it is part of the path, not a side event.

Sending it on WhatsApp

1. Call the eldersPhone the grandparents and the close relatives yourself, before anything is forwarded.
2. Send the message with the linkThe Fateh on top, the path and the day in one line, then the link or the card. The WhatsApp samples below are written for this.
3. Remind them the evening beforeThe time, the place and the map, nothing else. For an Akhand Path, the evening before the Bhog.

Our guide to sending invitations on WhatsApp covers sending from your own number, a few people at a time.

On the invitations we make

Several of the Sikh wedding invitations we made in 2026 opened with a path. One family's Akhand Path ran from a Wednesday at 11 am to a Friday at 9:30 am, and their card said Samapti, completion, where most say Bhog. Another gave the Arambh and then a separate Bhog and Ardas at 11 am. In one wedding each family held its own Sukhmani Sahib path: the bride's side from 9 am to 1 pm, the groom's side at 10 am on another morning, two hours before the shagun. Another family kept the Sukhmani Sahib path at 10 am and the jaggo at 7 pm on the same day, both at home.

The picture for a path on our invitations is the palki sahib under its canopy, in its rumalas, with a chaur and two lit diyas. No person, and no page of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, is painted. One card in 2026 first showed a bride standing in a garden, which says nothing about a path, and we repainted it.

Our Sikh wedding designs, Ik Onkar, Kalgi and Phulkari, give the Akhand Path a card of its own before the chooda, the jaggo and the Anand Karaj, and the wording can be in Gurmukhi, Punjabi or English. For a path on its own, for a birthday or a new house, ask us on WhatsApp and we will make it as a custom invitation. The Anand Karaj and Punjabi wedding guides cover the rest of the wedding.

How Invifest does this

Invifest makes invitations and guest management for weddings and every big moment. For a wedding that begins with a path, our designers set it up like this:

• A separate link for each group of guests. The path on every link, and each wedding function only on the links of the guests invited to it. Each guest sees only their own functions.
• A reply for each function, so the langar count for the path is its own number, apart from the wedding's.
• Your Gurbani as you send it. The line goes in exactly as your family writes it in Gurmukhi, and the rest of the wording can be in Punjabi or English.
• Aangan for the guest list. With Aangan your list is in one place, each guest gets their own invitation from your own WhatsApp, a tap each, and you see who is coming to which function.
• Changes on the same link. If the Bhog moves by an hour, the link you already shared updates by itself. On our newest invitations you tap the spot and say or type what to change.
• Ready in 3 days from the day we have your details, or in under 24 hours on request.

Sukhmani Sahib Path and Akhand Path wording you can copy

English first, then Punjabi in Roman letters. For Gurmukhi on a printed card, ask someone who reads it to check every letter. Change the names, dates, times and places in [brackets].

Want these words on a real invitation? See the designs.

Sikh wedding invitation designs

3 designs you can personalise. Open any one to see it full size, with a live demo.

Ik OnkarSikh Weddings PhulkariSikh Weddings KalgiSikh Weddings