Anand Karaj

Anand Karaj (Punjabi: ਅਨੰਦ ਕਾਰਜ ānada kāraja) is the Sikh marriage ceremony, meaning "Act towards happiness" or "Act towards happy life", that was introduced by Guru Amar Das. The four laavaan (hymns which take place during the ceremony) were composed by his successor, Guru Ram Das. Although the recitation of Guru Amar Das' stanzas in Sikh ceremonies is a historical and enduring tradition, the practice of circumabulating around the Guru Granth Sahib to conduct a marriage ceremony is a relatively recent innovation that supplanted the tradition of circumabulating around the sacred fire (havan) in the early twentieth century. The Anand ceremony was originally legalised in India through the passage of the Anand Marriage Act of 1909, but is now governed by the Sikh Reht Maryada (Sikh code of conduct and conventions) that was issued by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC).

In a recent verdict of the Akal Takht, a Hukamnama, Anand Karaj can only take place in a Gurdwara (Sikh temple). Any Amritdhari (baptized) Sikh may perform the marriage ceremony.^[1]

In 2012, India passed The Anand Marriage (Amendment) Bill, after which Sikhs are able to register their marriages under the Anand Karaj Marriage Act instead of the Hindu Marriage Act, with President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil giving her assent to a bill passed by Parliament on 7 June 2012 in the budget session.^[2]

Pakistan declared that it would pass the Sikh Anand Marriage Act in 2007 and a Draft was prepared. In 2018, Pakistani's Punjab Provincial Assembly passed the Punjab Sikh Anand Karaj Marriage Act 2018.^[3]