All India Radio begins two-hour morning Gurbani broadcast from Golden Temple, Amritsar.
AIR, Jalandhar, has been airing kirtan from the Golden Temple for three hours daily on MW, including a two-hour morning slot from 4 am to 6 am.
All India Radio (AIR), Amritsar, has begun broadcasting full two-hour early morning Gurbani from the Golden Temple, a move widely welcomed by listeners.
The service, initiated by Prasar Bharati from January 13, enables devotees in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur districts, as well as listeners across the International Border in Pakistan, to listen to the sacred kirtan.
Since the launch of AIR, Amritsar, on September 24, 2018, the station had been broadcasting Gurbani from 5 am to 6 am.
The FM transmission gets relayed from AIR’s Gharinda village centre near Attari and is operated under the External Services Division of AIR. Besides Gurbani, the division also airs special Urdu and Saraiki programmes, which has audiences in Pakistan, too.
Meanwhile, AIR, Jalandhar, has been airing kirtan from the Golden Temple for three hours daily on MW (medium wave), including a two-hour morning slot from 4 am to 6 am.
Former engineer Harjap Singh Aujla, who had been spearheading the demand, said medium wave transmissions were often unclear in distant areas and had also lost relevance as the use of MW radio sets declined.
“FM transmission offers better sound quality and is free from signal shadow caused by high-rise buildings. Residents of four border districts of Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Pathankot will now be able to listen the full Gurbani (two hours) clearly on FM,” added Aujla.
He expressed hope that AIR, Amritsar, would also start the evening Gurbani broadcast from 4.30 pm to 5.30 pm, on the lines of AIR, Jalandhar. Kulwant Singh Ankhi, patron of the Amritsar Vikas Manch, said many people still preferred listening to Gurbani on the radio. Even in Lahore, several listeners tuned into Gurbani rendered in classical ragas, including noted Punjabi poet Ustad Daman, who was known to listen to kirtan regularly, he said. Satnam Singh of Dhotian village said listening to the morning kirtan on the radio was like a daily act of worship for him.
The demand for Gurbani broadcast on radio dates back to the period of the Dharam Yudh Morcha in 1982. After Operation Bluestar in June 1984, AIR, Jalandhar, began relaying shabad kirtan from the Golden Temple for three hours daily.
Bhagwant Singh Dhangera, manager of the Golden Temple, said, “It is encouraging that devotees can now listen to Gurbani for two hours. Many people prefer radio over television for kirtan as Gurbani is considered more of an art to be heard than watched.”
Source: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/air-begins-two-hour-morning-gurbani-broadcast-from-golden-temple/
Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi to dxindia iog (2026-01-20)