The observance follows a settled pattern. It is preceded by the Akhand Path, an unbroken, continuous reading of the entire Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scripture, from beginning to end over about forty-eight hours, completed on the morning of the gurpurab. The day before often brings a Nagar Kirtan, a procession through the streets led by the Panj Pyare (five chosen Sikhs representing the "beloved five") and the scripture carried on a decorated float, with the singing of hymns (kirtan), the display of gatka (Sikh martial arts), and banners; the whole neighbourhood is drawn in.
On the day itself the gurdwara holds continuous kirtan and the expounding of Nanak's teaching, and the langar, the free community kitchen that is central to Sikh practice, serves food to all who come, without distinction of religion, caste or status, an enactment of the equality Nanak preached. Homes and gurdwaras are illuminated, and in the evening lamps and, in many places, fireworks are lit. The combination, an unbroken reading of the whole scripture, a public procession, congregational singing, and above all the open kitchen feeding everyone alike, expresses in a single day the core of what Guru Nanak taught: devotion to the Name, service, and the equal worth of every person.