Twitter dedicates special emoji to celebrate Guru Nanak Jayanti

As Sikhs around the world prepare to celebrate one of their most sacred festivals, Guru Nanak Jayanti, Twitter is adding on to the festive cheer by introducing a special emoji.

To commemorate the birth of the first Sikh guru, Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, Twitter is launching the first emoji celebrating Guru Nanak Jayanti. The emoji will go live tomorrow, 4th November at 9am and will be active throughout the day. Actor Gippy Grewal (@igippygrewal), singer Hardy Sandhu (@HarrdySandhu), restaurateur Harjinder S Kukreja (@SinghLions) and Badshah (@Its_Badshah) will be joining the emoji celebrations wishing all Sikhs a cheerful Guru Nanak Jayanti.

The design of the Guru Nanak emoji is based on ‘IkOnkar’, the symbol that represents the One Supreme Reality and is a central tenet of Sikh religious philosophy.

To encourage more people to join in the celebrations in their own language, Twitter has created the hashtags to activate in Punjabi and English. By using the hashtags #ੴ, #ਧੰਨਗੁਰੂਨਾਨਕ, #ਗੁਰਪੁਰਬ, #ਗੁਰੂਨਾਨਕ, #IkOnkar, #GuruNanakJayanti,#GuruNanak, #Gurpurab, #Gurupurab, #HappyGurpurab or #HappyGurupurab when composing a Tweet, an emoji representing ‘IkOnkar’ will appear after the hashtag in the sent Tweet.

Compose a Tweet using the above hashtags and the special Twitter emoji will appear

Additionally, restaurateur Harjinder S Kukreja (@SinghLions) will be traveling to Amritsar to provide a glimpse into the Golden Temple, the holiest Gurdwara and the most important pilgrimage site of Sikhism. He will be conducting a live Periscope from the Golden Temple at 9 AM on Saturday, 4th November, enabling people to be a part of the celebrations inside the most important Gurdwara.

Guess what? I will be at Golden Temple, Amritsar on 4th Nov. for #GuruNanakJayanti! Watch LIVE on #Periscope at 9 AM #Sikh @TwitterIndia pic.twitter.com/NJ6jJ3gF4A

— Harjinder S Kukreja (@SinghLions) November 2, 2017

Commenting on the launch, Keya Madhvani, Head of Music and Lifestyle Partnerships, Twitter India, said: “Twitter is what’s happening in our world; it’s where the conversations around India’s cultural diversity and festivals unfold in real time. We have seen the nation come together over cultural moments such as Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi and even local moments such as MakarSankranti in Gujarat. There has been a tremendous response to the emojis we’ve launched especially when in regional languages, and we're now launching a special Twitter emoji for Guru Nanak Jayanti to delight millions of Indians and Indian diaspora all across the world, while they celebrate this moment.”

In the past, Twitter has celebrated the Indian culture by announcing customized emojis for significant moments such as Independence Day, Republic Day, the International Day of Yoga, Ganesh Chaturthi, AmbedkarJayanti and the Diwali emoji.