You may now create your own Gurbani software through our shiny new Guru Granth Sahib search engine called GurbaniDB. Sign up as a software developer (remember to select ‘Software Developer’ from the “What do you want to register as” drop-down menu)

The Sikher team and the Search Gurbani team have been collaborating over the past few months to release the Search Gurbani Desktop Version (SGDV) in celebration of the 300 years anniversary of the Sikh Holy Scripture, the Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. The Search Gurbani Desktop Version has now replaced Sikher 1.0 because it has all of the fuctionality of Sikher and more, but we shall continue to work with the Search Gurbani team to develop the software’s features and to add the multiple translations and transliterations that Sikher 1.0 had promised. Currently Search Gurbani Desktop Version 1.25 has the following features:

• Cross-platform desktop program which works with Windows, Linux, Mac and Solaris
  Search Sikh scriptures including the Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, Amrit Keertan Gutka, Bhai Gurdaas Vaaran and Sri Dasam Granth Sahib
• Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji translated into English and Punjabi
• Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji transliterated into English, Hindi and Urdu
• Advanced searching capabilities in Gurmukhi and other languages, including by letters, words, phrases, melody, author, page and scripture
• Rapid Gurmukhi and Hindi keyboards to enter search terms quickly like on a mobile phone
• Customisable slideshow feature showing each line of Gurbani, translation and transliteration in the built-in viewer
• Baanis feature which allows for the continuous reading of Sikh scriptures
• Dictionary feature to search for words in the Gur Shabad Ratanakar Mahankosh by Kahan Singh Nabha and Sri Guru Granth Kosh by Dr Gurcharan Singh
• Hukamnama feature which takes the reader to a random page in the Sikh scriptures
• Favourites feature to store your favourite hymns

So please don’t delay! Download Search Gurbani Desktop Version1.25 now.

For information on installing the correct Java JRE version for your platform please click here. If you’re on Windows and unsure which version of SGDV to download, you should go for Windows (Including JRE) to avoid the headaches of installing Java.

Sat Nam. It’s been about two years of no development, due to other life commitments, but now we are back in action and committed to releasing Sikher 1.0 by 31st January 2009. However, we’re going to need your help, so please come forward and volunteer for one of the roles on the contribute page. Then simply send us an email telling us your name, location, skills and which role you would like to volunteer for. It’s really that simple!

Coming back into the flow of the project I’m fascinated as to how much was achieved in such a short period of time, and the sheer number of developments that Sikher brought to the world of Gurbani digitisation. We shall be carrying on this crucial work to standardise the storage format of various Sikh scriptures with the XMLGurbani format, as well as collating a number of translations of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji in various languages including Spanish, Russian, French and German. Also, there are a number of English translations to Sikh scriptures which exist that have not yet been digitised, and we hope to incorporate these into future releases of Sikher.

The other development which Sikher shall bring to the world will be transliterations of Sikh scriptures in every language script of the world, including Arabic, Armenian, Bengali, Cyrillic, Devanagari, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew and Thai, to name a few. This will enable people all around the world to recite the Word of the Guru in their own language. The implications of this are incomprehensible. Translations may take time to create and perfect in every language, but a transliteration has an immediate impact because it allows a person to recite the unchanging Sound Current of the Guru in their own language and experience the transformation of their own consciousness from individual to universal consciousness.

This project is not an individual one, for a single person to undertake, and nor is it a project which is just for Sikhs. It is a project which all communities of all religions should get involved in, because the Sikh way of life is meant for all of humanity as a tool to develop the consciousness and attain a state of self peace. The teachings within the Sikh scripture, the Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, gives any human being an access to address their own negative tendencies, insecurities and limitations, and at the same time, allows a person to explore their own perfection, beauty and infinity.

It is through this experience of expanded consciousness that people shall begin to understand reality intuitively, and not intellectually. It is through this experience of self peace that world peace shall become a possibility. The boundaries, divisions and limitations, which we ourselves created, shall fall away, and human beings shall then realise their inter-connectedness to each other and to the universe. So it’s safe to say that the work of digitising Gurbani, the Word of the Guru, is of paramount importance for the progression of humanity to the next level of consciousness.

It is this vision that moved me to create Sikher two years ago, and it is this vision which continues to drive me to release Sikher 1.0. I pray that by the grace of God and Guru, that we can continue this crucial work and that may more people from all over the world get involved to help progress the project.

Sat Nam (Truth Is Your Identity),

Jasdeep Hari Bhajan Singh Khalsa.