Also, you will find the source code for our API here: https://github.com/sikher/gurbanidb

Please find out more in this audio announcement (where we also explain what an API is, for those who are not software developers):

And something which we didn’t mention in this audio announcement which is equally as exciting:

We have developed and open sourced iGurbani – a sample app built upon the GurbaniDB API in pure HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and which is compatible across desktop, tablet and mobile devices!

Check out the source code here: https://github.com/sikher/igurbani and view our demo here: http://sikher.github.io/igurbani/. It’s just a work in progress at this stage so don’t expect anything extraordinary ;)

Note: Wherever I mention version 2.1 in this audio, please consider it to be 2.x, as we are quickly working on and releasing newer versions of the API & database within the 2.x branch.

We have just added ShabadID to GurbaniDB, marking the first time in Sikh history that data of the hymns within the Sikh Scriptures has been open sourced for developers worldwide to use freely. This also now makes GurbaniDB complete as a database.

We have had many requests from developers to incorporate this data, and even me myself wanted to see this for a long time. However it has all been thanks to the contribution of Harvinder Singh from khojgurbani.org that this has now been made available.

I spent an entire day to ensure that the data was of high quality, accurate and complete – which to my delight – I found it was. I then modified the data to package it within the existing GurbaniDB ecosystem.

For those of you already using an existing version of GurbaniDB to power your app, I would encourage you to upgrade right away. The only changed table is tblscripture which you will find within gurbanidb_core.sql, and the only addition is a new column which we have called ShabadID that ranges from 1 to 3620.

We have also taken a unique approach to categorising Shabads, compared to other Gurbani websites, by categorising them within context by including the Shaloks and Pauris related to a Shabad so that a reader can understand the full context of a hymn.

At the moment, we have not incorporated this Shabad data into the GurbaniDB search engine, and most likely we will not do this as we are in the process of creating a better, more open API for developers to use and are planning to retire our search engine shortly.

So lets take some time to celebrate this success which will no doubt help developers build better Gurbani applications now and in the future.

In humble service to you,

Jasdeep HBS Khalsa

The reason we created GurbaniApps was because we have seen an increasing amount of apps being created for Sikhs and we wanted one place where we could find and filter through them all!

We are going to be adding more features to GurbaniApps over the next few weeks so stay tuned. In the meantime, please add your apps to the website and encourage the creators of Gurbani apps to add theirs too!

Our Most Requested Feature: Shabads (Hymns)
Thanks to our good friend Harvinder Singh, who did considerable work to categorise our GurbaniDB database into Shabads/hymns, searches will soon return the exact hymn instead of just the page of the search result.

Search engines like SikhiToTheMax and Search Gurbani have long had this feature so it is nothing new. However, what I’m so excited by is that we are planning to open source this Shabad data for the first time in history so that developers will be able to create their own fully featured Gurbani search engines. It is basically the last piece of data which was missing from GurbaniDB and will make GurbaniDB complete!

After we have integrated and open sourced this data into GurbaniDB we will send out another announcement.

More Options for Developers

• Some developers were having problems with getting our SQL file into their database (because its so HUGE!), so we have chopped it down into little bits so they can now pick and choose what they drop into their database. Here are the files: http://www.sikher.com/sql/. Find out how to use these files in our README
• We have developed and open sourced a new multi-lingual keyboard in JavaScript which will soon be integrated into GurbaniDB: https://github.com/sikher/jskeyboard

• Please like us on Facebook & follow us on Twitter and Google+
• Donate to us £10 or whatever you wish
• Forward this post to a friend! :)

• Gathering page-by-page audio of Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh Scriptures (this shall be incorporated into the GurbaniDB search engine at some point). Complete set available here: http://media.sikher.com/audio/sggsj/
• Gathering page-by-page audio of Dasam Granth, the writings of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Complete set available here: http://media.sikher.com/audio/dg/
• Releasing the FULL GurbaniDB database (including 52 translations and 22 transliterations) in SQL format for anybody to download and use in their own software application (or for research purposes?): http://sourceforge.net/projects/sikher/files/Database/
• Because of all the fantastic Gurbani Apps now being created by different developers around the world, it’s becoming difficult to keep track of them all! So we are in the process of creating a new Gurbani Apps website which will become the one-stop-shop to find Gurbani apps of all different kinds including mobile, web and desktop. You will also be able to rate each app you have used and leave comments for other users to see which apps are good or perhaps not so good. The website shall be available at: http://www.gurbaniapps.org/. It is currently being developed in Django, a Python framework.

With blessings and thanks,

Jasdeep Hari Bhajan Singh Khalsa
Founder & Director of The Sikher Project

Update: October 2019. Since the writing of this article the Gurbani app world has changed significantly.

However, in case you’re looking to download an app today it’s worth mentioning that the most developed & accurate open source Gurbani Desktop & mobile app of today is Sikhitothemax.org being developed by the Khalis Foundation.

I’ve always been excited by new technologies, especially since technology has the power to transform lives worldwide and the way in which we live.

It’s coming to the end of 2011 now, so it’s a nice time to review what Gurbani Apps have been developed and are being developed, and perhaps where we could see them go in the future. I spent a few days looking through and using these apps, and I present my review here.

I feel compelled to mention volunteering and monetization. The truth is that the people building Gurbani applications today are few – you can probably count them on your fingers – so I would like to encourage the new generation of young people to learn computer programming (a good start is HTML, CSS, JavaScript & Python) and to also start actively contributing to the development of new Gurbani apps. This is the only way this digital Sikhi can continue to evolve into more beautiful forms. Basically…we need more active volunteers and that volunteer is YOU!

During my review, I was very happy to see that most of these apps, although released for free, have a monetization strategy in place either through PayPal donations, in-app advertising or by charging a nominal 69 pence for the app itself. This is necessary and Gurbani software developers should not shy away from this because if a Gurbani application can generate some money, this money can be reinvested into making the application better for everybody and marketing it more widely. Majority of the applications I have come across have been produced out of pure love and service, where the money is being reinvested into charitable or not-for-profit activities.

A notable example is the new game just released by SikhNet called Karma – The Ogre’s Curse, which SikhNet have spent over $90,000 and over 1.5 years developing, and have released for FREE! It is only through your generous donations that this game can continue development, and deserves the highest applaud and congratulations AND blessings AND love for their amount of dedication and investment of time and money. We want to see more of this =)!

Finally, to all the users of these wonderful Gurbani apps, please do donate generously to the developers of the apps this Christmas, so that we can see more exciting Gurbani app developments in 2012. Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year from The Sikher Project and please remember the sacrifices of Guru Gobind Singh’s four Sahibzadeh, who died so we may live free – and may we use this freedom to contribute to others lives. And now for the review…

Web Applications

Out of all the apps in this category, SearchGurbani really stands out. Maninder’s constant dedication to continually developing and re-developing his website has resulted in an absolutely comprehensive and beautifully designed website offering all the Sikh Scriptures ever digitised – and you can search all of them easily – please bookmark SearchGurbani and share it with all your friends:

• SearchGurbani by Maninder Gujral – http://searchgurbani.com/
• SikhiToTheMAX by Tarsem Singh Khalsa – http://www.sikhitothemax.com/search.asp
• SriGranth by Jasjeet Singh Thind – http://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.gurbani?S=y
• GurbaniDB by Sikher – http://www.sikher.com/guru-granth-sahib/

Desktop Software

We all love and adore STTM II, and its worldwide adoption is exemplary, but do we know about Search Gurbani Desktop Version for Windows, Linux AND Mac? Again, this is a completely comprehensive software offering all of the goodness of SearchGurbani.com but in a software form, which is sure to enthuse and inspire countless people worldwide:

• SikhiToTheMAX II for Windows – http://www.sikhitothemax.com/updates.htm
• Search Gurbani Desktop Version 2.5 for Windows/Linux/Mac – http://www.searchgurbani.com/sgdv

Mobile Apps (iPhone)

The recent explosion of mobile apps has also overflowed into Gurbani app development. Out of all the software I came across, GurbaniAnywhere for iPhone is FANTASTIC, and in many ways better than Desktop Gurbani software – the time and care which has gone into this software is obvious. Unfortunately, we don’t see it (or any other app like it) available on the Android yet, although it has been planned for quite sometime:

• GurbaniAnywhere for iPhone/iPad iOS 4.2+ – http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/gurbani-anywhere/id330064257?mt=8, http://www.gurbanianywhere.com/

This interesting app makes clever use of the iPhone rotate feature to offer a Hukamnama (orders from the Guru) and if you shake it between 4am and 9am, it will play the morning Sikh prayers, and if you shake it between 4pm and 9pm, it will play the evening Sikh prayers – very innovative!

• Gurbani World By Randhawa Systems Inc. for iPhone iOS 3+ – http://itunes.apple.com/ke/app/gurbani-world/id340755361?mt=8, http://rdsystemsinc.com/home

iSikhi, I found to be quite dated compared to recent modern UI expectations. However, if you understand this history of iSikhi you’ll find it was a revolutionary effort, especially since it was one of the first to apps to support Gurmukhi fonts on the iPhone (even before iPhone itself supported them!) and as a result of this app, countless others app developers have been inspired to produce Gurbani apps. Great work Mandeep!

• iSikhi by Mandeep Singh for iPhone iOS 3.2+ – http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/isikhi/id301159609?mt=8, http://www.isikhi.com/, http://www.mandeeps.com/products/iphone-apps/isikhi.aspx

Recently we launched this, and in light of doing an objective review, this is not really an app, but rather a website designed to work with all mobiles phones – so not very useful for all those key moments where there is no internet connection:

• GurbaniDB Mobile by Sikher – http://www.sikher.com/guru-granth-sahib/user/search/mobile

Maninder is working on an iSearchGurbani app for the Android, iPad and iPhone. I’m excited to see what else he has up his sleeve in this soon-to-be-released Gurbani app!

• iSearchGurbani by Maninder Gujral for Android/iPad/iPhone – Coming soon! http://www.searchgurbani.com

Gutka Apps (iPhone, Android, Kindle)

Gutka apps offer files of the Sikh prayers (Banis), but not in a searchable form, so they are basic versions of apps, but nevertheless noteworthy.

iPhone                

Our good friend from Derby, Khushkaran Singh Bajwa, has done some very innovative work by releasing one of the first and most popular Nitnem Gutka apps for the iPhone. Please support his work, as I’m sure he has much more yet to offer the world of digital Gurbani:

• iNitnem [G] by Khushkaran Singh Bajwa for iPhone iOS 4.0+ – http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/initnem-g/id428270027?mt=8, http://www.kesrinishaan.co.uk/
• iNitnem [E] by Khushkaran Singh Bajwa for iPhone iOS 4.0+ – http://itunes.apple.com/app/initnem-e/id429175612?mt=8

This app really caught my attention for its beautiful graphics and attention to detail. A beautiful digital Gutka:

• Nitnem Gutka by Jasbir Singh Virdi for iPhone iOS 3.2 – http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/nitnem-gutka/id446358937?mt=8

Android

Android apps are few in general, but these two seem to be pretty cool as basic Nitnem apps:

• GurbaniBrowser by Ranjeet Singh for Android – https://market.android.com/details?id=gurbani.browser&hl=en
• Sundar Gutka by Waheguroo! Network for Android – https://market.android.com/details?id=com.WahegurooNetwork.SundarGutka

Kindle & eBook Readers

Read the Siri Guru Granth Sahib and Nitnem Banis on your Amazon Kindle, Kindle DX, Sony, Kobo, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Nook, and other e-book readers:

• Siri Guru Granth Sahib and Nitnem Banis by SikhNet – http://www.sikhnet.com/pages/gurbani-e-book-readers

Gurbani Radio & Kirtan Apps

SikhNet Radio is a brilliant commercial-quality app available for iPhone, Android & Blackberry. You just have to LOVE SikhNet for all the excellent work they put into it. Please download/purchase this excellent app (for 69 pence on iPhone) and support them in the process, win-win!

• SikhNet Radio by SikhNet for iPhone iOS 4.1+, Android & Blackberry – http://itunes.apple.com/app/sikhnet-radio/id337138264?mt=8, https://market.android.com/details?id=com.cls.radio.sikhnet.screen, http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/50614?lang=en, http://www.sikhnet.com/radio

Another great app by Khushkaran, offers Sikh radio channels from around the globe. Awesome app!

• Dhur Ki Baani by Khushkaran Singh Bajwa for iPhone iOS 4.0+ – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dhur-ki-baani/id429178034?mt=8, http://www.kesrinishaan.co.uk/

This is a simple app yet done exactly what is says on the tin – gives Amrit Bani Radio’s broadcast on SKY 0176 right to your phone. I liked the energy behind this app, comes from a good place – one to download!

• Amrit Bani Radio UK for iPhone iOS 3.1+ & Android – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amrit-bani-radio-uk/id419597907?mt=8, http://www.amritbani.com/ContactUs.aspx

Another forward-thinking developer, Inderpreet Singh, offers Sikh Sangeet which provides a number of categories of Sikh Kirtan, music and Katha (explanation of Sikh principles):

• Sikh Sangeet by Inderpreet Singh for iPhone iOS 3.1 – http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sikh-sangeet/id371957811?mt=8, www.sikhsangeet.com, www.inderpreetsingh.com

Finally, although not strictly an app, the work which went into the Gurbani Media Center is mind-blowing. Its feature rich and offers masses of all styles and genres of Kirtan. Just another reason to donate to SikhNet today:

• Gurbani Media Center by SikhNet – http://www.sikhnet.com/gurbani

Sikh Games

After spending over $90K and being 1.5 years in development, they are in need of donations after deciding to release this game for FREE! Please contact guruka@sikhnet.com or gmustuk@sikhnet.com directly to offer your kind donations to this project:

• Karma – The Ogre’s Curse by SikhNet – http://www.sikhnet.com/karmagame

SuperSant has captured the imagination of thousands worldwide. This classic game has now been brought to the iPhone & Android with an incredible user interface and exciting graphics, I’m surprised to find its being offered for free – no strings attached! Tarnjit Dhesi, the force behind Share Charity and a number of Gurbani apps, is an active individual working to help bring Sikh principles to the masses in an easy to understand manner:

• SuperSant by Tarnjit Dhesi for iPhone iOS 3.1+ & Android – http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/supersant/id420897930?mt=8, https://market.android.com/details?id=imob.supersant&hl=en, http://www.sharecharity.co.uk/

A Note to all Gurbani Software Developers

These are all great apps above, but I still feel we could do a lot more – especially for platforms that are not getting much love – like Mac, Linux, Android, Blackberry, Windows 7, Symbian and a growing list of others. We can also start developing much more sophisticated applications and one’s which exceed all the current boundaries of design and usability.

One problem however is that no Gurbani software developers are releasing the source code for their Gurbani applications into the public domain. The Sikher Project has been the first, and so far only organisation to fully open source all of our code and databases. This must happen in order for better applications to surface.

It is a reflection of the Sikh community’s current consciousness, to be closed and do projects privately (because we think we know what’s best for everybody) – and we are all guilty of this to different degrees – myself included. However, we must now become more open and we must open source all our applications and our Gurbani databases, the future depends greatly upon doing this! I cannot stress this enough – we MUST open source all our application source code and databases! I’ve been stressing this strongly for 7 years, but I still have yet to see some action.

As for The Sikher Project’s further contribution to open source, I am today officially announcing the launch of the GurbaniDB CSV Weekly Dump (every Friday at 10pm) of the GurbaniDB database (including latest translation updates), available here: http://ps71261.dreamhostps.com/db/ (Deprecated! Please use: http://sourceforge.net/projects/sikher/files/Database/). This is the same database which powers GurbaniDB’s search engine here: http://www.sikher.com/guru-granth-sahib/. This is being released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, meaning that all those who use this database must also attribute The Sikher Project and GurbaniDB, only use it for non-commercial purposes and must release their project under this same license: thus encouraging the Sikh world to move to open source!

I foresee something else happening too; increasingly we will start to make use of mobile application frameworks such as AppCelerator – http://www.appcelerator.com/, PhoneGap – http://phonegap.com/ and/or JQuery Mobile – http://jquerymobile.com/. The idea of mobile frameworks is simple: develop once, and deploy across multiple platforms and devices. Perfect! However, this requires one to develop apps using more open standards of HTML5, CSS and JavaScript, instead of just going where the buzz is e.g. iPhone/iPad specific development. Future Gurbani app developers should make FULL use of these frameworks to create maximum impact for the minimum amount of work.

For your next Gurbani app you can also try using the GurbaniDB Cloud API (REST & JSON-RPC supported) which has some VERY easy to use functions (so easy that even I can use them!) and we have provided simple code examples in PHP & Python – sign up here as a software developer today to get INSTANT access to the GurbaniDB Cloud API, and download the GurbaniDB Cloud API User Guide here: http://media.sikher.com/files/GurbaniDB_Cloud_Documentation_v2.docx

To your highest success and enlightenment,

Jasdeep Hari Bhajan Singh Khalsa.
Founder & Director of The Sikher Project

If you need some convicing, here are 8 reasons why you should help us raise $25,000/£15,000 by October 1st 2011:

Reason 1: We need to host GurbaniDB Guru Granth Sahib search engine and Cloud on a private server to increase its performance, and encourage more software developers to use it, and also continue to develop the platform with richer features and a more user-friendly interface!

Reason 2: We want to start developing Guru Granth Sahib mobile applications for Android, iPad, iPhone & Blackberry.

Reason 3: We wish to complete our very first beautifully illustrated Nitnem Gutka/Prayer Book which shall be offered for sale on a cost-to-cost basis. It will be an extremely beautiful Gutka to behold using beautiful fonts, printed on the finest quality paper, containing exquisite natural photography and art, and wrapped in a silk cloth – a very first of its kind.

Reason 4: We need to hire two part-time staff to help drive forward The Sikher Project’s translation efforts to produce high-quality translations in 52 languages using the GurbaniDB platform, so that all changes can be managed and tracked in a central place.

Reason 5: With this funding, we shall be also be sending Gutkas/Prayer Books to third-world countries to give people access to the Guru. Afterall, the aim of The Sikher Project is to make the Guru accessible at a price people can afford, thus we must make provisions for those people who cannot even afford to buy a Gutka at all.

Reason 6: We shall produce a printed volume of the English translation of Guru Granth Sahib by Sant Singh Khalsa, who was kind enough to give his permission for us to print it.

Reason 7: We shall be starting a competition and offering some money/goods as a prize to enthusiastic Gurbani software developers to create innovative applications using the GurbaniDB API/Cloud. This should create a whole new wave of cool, modern Gurbani applications!

Reason 8: We wish to create a comprehensive wiki which shall be full of rich audio, video, document downloads for all the Sikh Scriptures, so that The Sikher Project becomes the hub of the best, more accurate Gurbani files and data on the internet.

Does all this sound like it’s worth some contribution from yourself? We welcome any of your contributions, however small or big, with open arms and shall, as always, release full accounts of where every penny of your money was spent.

Sat Naam.

Here are a few features of the new GurbaniDB Guru Granth Sahib search engine:

1. Search Guru Granth Sahib in 54 languages

Search the Guru Granth Sahib in English, Gurmukhi and 52 other languages, including 22 transliterations, with an integrated Google Virtual Keyword for each language.

2. World’s most accurate Guru Granth Sahib data

The world’s first Guru Granth Sahib database to correctly archive Guru Granth Sahib into all its 60 melodies or raags (usually mistaken for being just 31 raags) with pop-up descriptions of each author and melody. Melody data has been kindly provided by an expert in Indian Musicology, Professor Surinder Singh from Raj Academy.

3. Powerful search options, customised to your needs

• Search by all words, first letters or exact phrase in your preferred language
• Advanced search by search type (all words, first letters or exact phrase), language, author, melody and page
• Set your individual search preferences including search language and type (all words, first letters or exact phrase), output translation and transliteration languages, and what to show in the results

4. Constantly improving translations database

We have created an entirely new set of tools and dashboards for volunteer translators and translation project managers, to allow them to co-ordinate translation efforts more easily. Have a look at these screenshots:

We are also today announcing the start of a world-wide project to recruit volunteer translators from every part of the world to join in and help improve the accuracy of the 52 translations in GurbaniDB. Please sign up now to become a volunteer translator.

Don’t be afraid to become a volunteer translator, all you need to know is English and be a native speaker of another language – we’ll assign you to an experienced Project Manager who will make sure you get all the support you need to help you translate as little or as much as you can in the time you have.

As a result, we are also looking to hire 52 Project Managers for each translation language to work on translating the Guru Granth Sahib full-time (paid and unpaid), and who will be responsible for maintaining the quality of their translation language and managing their team of worldwide volunteer translators! If you are interested in this role and opportunity to do this as a job full-time please contact us immediately!

5. Free, open developer access to the GurbaniDB Cloud

All the data which powers the GurbaniDB search engine exists on the GurbaniDB Cloud in cyberspace and may be accessed by Gurbani software developers via JSON-RPC requests, allowing software powered by GurbaniDB to always receive the latest updates almost in real-time! If you are a software developer and wish to create the next generation of innovative Sikh Scripture software applications, please register now to get free and open access to the GurbaniDB Cloud! (just remember to select “Software Developer” under the section “What do you want to register as?”)

Spread the love

Welcome to the revolution in eGurbani: the Guru Granth Sahib available in all the major world’s languages and language scripts for everyone to read, understand, experience, share and enjoy. If you’d like to spread the GurbaniDB love, you can put this image on your website:

Just copy and paste the code from here:
<a href="http://www.sikher.com/guru-granth-sahib/"><img src="http://www.sikher.com/wp-content/downloads/I_Heart_GurbaniDB.png" alt="GurbaniDB - Search Guru Granth Sahib in English, Gurmukhi and 52 other languages" width="190" height="35" /></a>

Update: GurbaniDB has been launched. You may searchGuru Granth Sahib here

In a previous post on the Collaborative Translation System I briefly introduced this system/search engine with some screenshots, but now I want to go into more of the juicy details, because this is nothing short of a revolution in eGurbani which will change the future of the Sikh way of life for generations to come.

Summary of GurbaniDB’s Features

• Powered by GurbaniDB.org data, which is the world’s most accurate database of the Guru Granth Sahib
• The world’s first Gurbani database to correctly archive Guru Granth Sahib into all 60 Raags (moods/melodies) with pop-up descriptions of each Author and Melody. Melody data has been kindly provided by an expert in Indian Musicology, Professor Surinder Singh from Raj Academy
• Search the Guru Granth Sahib in English, Gurmukhi and 52 other languages, including 22 transliterations
• Translators can contribute their improvements to the translations by registering an account. All translators are assigned to a specific language and managed by a Project Manager who is an expert in English and a native language e.g. Spanish. The Project managers are responsible for maintaining the quality of their translation language and managing their team.
• Additional back-end tools and dashboards are provided to all translators and project managers to allow them to co-ordinate translation efforts more easily
• Software developers can access the ‘GurbaniDB Cloud‘ via JSON-RPC requests, allowing them to receive all the latest updates to translations easily and allowing them to develop the next generation of Gurbani software with a verified source of Gurbani data

Vision for the GurbaniDB Search Engine

It has always been my view that the Sikh Gurus gave the Guru Granth Sahib for the benefit of the whole world, not just to the Sikhs. So with this in mind, it’s always been my vision to make the Guru Granth Sahib available in a language people can understand, at a price they can afford and in a form that they can use.

Therefore, the Guru Granth Sahib must be translated into every language of the world, and we will not stop until this is done. And since language tends to evolve into new forms and it is unknown how many languages there really are (probably close to 7000), this aim will never be complete and so this organisation must continue to exist way beyond our own lives.

However, we must always start somewhere. So the aim of this new system/search engine is to create the very best translations in just 52 languages (not including English). However, very  importantly, everyone must understand that all these 52 translations will just be translations of the English translation by Sant Singh Khalsa’s, instead of the original Gurmukhi words. Before you get concerned by this, there are two very good reasons for doing this:

1. One is that most of the people who will come forward to become volunteer translators will be native speakers of their own language e.g. French, Spanish etc, but will not be versed in Gurmukhi or Punjabi, so cannot understand the original language of the Guru Granth Sahib anyway
2. Secondly, by creating a translation of a translation which is considered to be the world’s standard and which is of a high quality (i.e. Sant Singh Khalsa’s English translation), will help create 52 more world standard translations of a high quality in all the world’s languages

So basically, its the best trade-off we have right now to help create translations quickly, get the most people involved and keep them to a high standard without diluting the message of the Guru Granth Sahib. One day, we shall open up this platform so that any person can start their OWN translation of Guru Granth Sahib and user’s can rate its quality. But for now, the mission is to stay focussed on creating 52 high quality translations in all the world’s languages to be as close to Sant Singh Khalsa’s English translation as possible, so that we have some sort of solid base for the future.

The beauty of this is you don’t need to know Gurmukhi to get involved, you just need to know English, be a native speaker of another language and have some understanding of the flavour of the Guru Granth Sahib’s message and effect. The Project Managers, who shall be interviewed to assess their skills and passion and who shall be recruited to work full-time (both paid and unpaid) on GurbaniDB, shall be responsible for maintaining the quality of an entire language and will be experts in English, a native speaker of the language they manage and have a deeper understanding of the message of the Guru Granth Sahib to ensure that the translation is of the highest quality. Overall, with recruited Project Managers and many volunteer translators working together, the vision of GurbaniDB will be realised.

GurbaniDB Cloud

The GurbaniDB Cloud deserves a special mention. Cloud computing has made something beautiful possible: all data is available in one place instantly from anywhere. So we decided to use this concept in GurbaniDB. All the GurbaniDB data exists virtually in a cloud somewhere (in a MySQL database) and so all the Gurbani data in the search engine, including the latest translation updates, can be accessed instantly by Gurbani software developers to create high-quality Gurbani applications that are being updated almost in real-time (I say ‘almost’ because until a language is mature enough, it won’t be made available to software using the GurbaniDB Cloud and also, there is a small lag in accessing the data).

Before the existence of GurbaniDB it was virtually impossible for a Gurbani software developer to find a database of the Guru Granth Sahib (and other Sikh scriptures) in order to create some software. I know this very well, because as part of The Sikher Project I tried very hard for many years to create the very first Open Source Gurbani Seacher software called Sikher Version 1.0 (which was to be made available on Windows, Linux and Mac). The problem to completing it was always the lack of access to Gurbani data. Also, those who had that Gurbani data were not willing for me to use it, even though it was for the benefit of mankind. The concept of the GurbaniDB Cloud will eliminate this problem forever. So, if you’re ever inspired to create Gurbani software there are no longer any barriers to doing this.

To get access to the GurbaniDB Cloud, all you will have to do is sign up – it just helps us keep track of how many developers are using it and how heavily, although there are no restrictions to its use.

Just the beginning…

This is a revolution, but its just the beginning of the revolution, so the best it still yet to come.

Sat Naam,

Jasdeep Hari Bhajan Singh Khalsa.

Founder & Director of The Sikher Project

Here are a selection of screenshots of the application in development so far:

Search engine for all 53 language translations and 22 transliterations of Guru Granth Sahib

Search results for "God" - fully customisable

Back-end for volunteer translators

And here is a slideshow of all the screenshots: http://www.flickr.com/photos/56913188@N02/sets/72157625577351838/show/

You can see the full set of images here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/56913188@N02/sets/72157625577351838/

Also, I am looking for a small selection of very lucky BETA testers to help test this new platform as it is being developed to eliminate any bugs and improve its usability. If you are interested please send me an email to jasdeep |at| sikher.com and let me know your Name, Location and Native Language. Ideally, I’m looking for people who understand a variety of language scripts, but any help we can get will be most welcomed!

Until next time,

Jasdeep H.B.S. Khalsa
Founder & Director of The Sikher Project

Throughout history many translation efforts of scriptures have been made, but have been a long and arduous process taking many years or even lifetimes to complete. In today’s modern era we now have computer technologies to help speed along translation creation, such as Google Translate. We also have unified all languages with the invention of Unicode, making it easy to convert from one language script to another, to read another language script in our own language script.

GurbaniDB.org has taken advantage of these developments of the modern era to create 52 translations and 22 transliterations of the Sikh scriptures. But the project is not stopping there! GurbaniDB wants people who are passionate about the Guru, who can speak any of the native languages and who have a good command of English to come forward to check the accuracy of the translations and transliterations, and also to collaborate on improving them using our Collaborative Translation System which is currently being developed. Please go to: http://www.gurbanidb.org/collaborate/ and sign up now!

GurbaniDB stands for Gurbani Database, and will be opened up as a platform for software developers to create the next generation of Gurbani software. One of the biggest obstacles to Gurbani software development today is access to accurate Gurbani data, so we hope to eliminate this barrier by using GurbaniDB as a verified source of Gurbani data. Our developer platform is currently being finalised but we encourage all keen developers to register their interest here: http://www.gurbanidb.org/develop/.

Finally, all these developments have taken valuable time, effort and money. Please do donate anything you can to help us reach our donation target of £15,000, or become one of 25 Gold subscribers donating £50 a month, so that we can continue this crucial work in connecting people to the Word, the Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

In service to you and to the Guru,

Jasdeep H.B.S. Khalsa