Bandi Chhor Divas (Punjabi: ਬੰਦੀ ਛੋੜ ਦਿਵਸ (Gurmukhi); meaning "Day of Liberation"), also known as Bandi Chhor Dihara,[1] is a Sikh celebration commemorating the day when the sixth Guru of Sikhs, Guru Hargobind, and 52 Hindu kings were released from Gwalior Fort, who had been imprisoned by Mughal Emperor Jahangir.

The day falls in autumn and often overlaps with Hindu Diwali, the festival of lights celebrated across Punjab and the rest of India.

[2][3][4] In 2003, Sikh religious leaders and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee led by Prof. Kirpal Singh Badungar formally adopted this day into the Nanakshahi calendar.

[5] The Bandi Chhor Divas is celebrated by the lighting up of homes and Gurdwaras, celebratory processions (nagar kirtan) and langar (community kitchen).

In addition to Nagar keertan (a street procession) and an Akhand paath (a continuous reading of Guru Granth Sahib), Bandi Chhor (Shodh) Divas is celebrated with a fireworks display.

One version suggests that when Murtaja Khan, Nawab of Lahore, noticed that the Guru had constructed the Sri Akal Takhat Sahib, 'The Throne of the Almighty', at Amritsar, and was also strengthening his army, he informed the Mughal Emperor Jahangir about this.

[19] Persian records, such as Dabistan i Mazahib suggest he was kept in jail between 1617 and 1619 in Gwalior, after which he and his camp were kept under Muslim army's surveillance by Jahangir.