Amritsar, Jan 20: Listeners in the border region can now tune into an extended two-hour live broadcast of morning Gurbani from the Darbar Sahib following a new schedule rollout by All India Radio Amritsar.
The service, which began on January 13 under the direction of Prasar Bharati, ensures that the sacred kirtan reaches devotees across Amritsar, Tarn Taran, and Gurdaspur, as well as audiences across the international border in Pakistan.
Prior to this expansion, the Amritsar station had only been airing an hour of Gurbani from 5 am to 6 am since its inception in 2018. The new slot now covers the full early morning session from 4 am to 6 am.
This transmission is relayed via the Gharinda village center near Attari, operating under the External Services Division, which also produces Urdu and Saraiki programming for listeners in neighboring regions.
Local residents and experts noted that the shift to FM technology is a significant improvement over traditional medium wave broadcasts. Harjap Singh Aujla, a former engineer who led the campaign for the expansion, mentioned that FM provides a much cleaner signal than the older MW sets which are fading from common use.
“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 clearly on FM,” Aujla said.
The demand for radio broadcasts of Gurbani has deep historical roots, stretching back to the Dharam Yudh Morcha in 1982. While AIR Jalandhar has relayed the kirtan since 1984, the Amritsar FM station provides a more accessible modern alternative for the local population. Bhagwant Singh Dhangera, manager of the Golden Temple, noted that many faithful still find the audio medium more spiritual than visual alternatives.
“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,” Dhangera said.
