Vision Statement

BaniDB’s vision is to create a single, universally accessible Gurbani Database for Sikh websites and applications. BaniDB is, and will continue to be, the most accurate and complete Gurbani database ever created for use by Sikhs around the world.

In order to make this vision possible, members of this collaborative effort work to ensure that the platform is selfsustaining, tested, and secure.

BaniDB and SikhiToTheMax now power the captioning you see on live broadcasts from Sri Darbar Sahib Amritsar (Harimandir Sahib, Golden Temple).

Precision and Recall

BaniDB is the most precise Sikh Gurbani database with over 43,000 corrections/changes (and counting!). It is simply the most accurate database in the world with Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji data having been checked on numerous occaisions.

It is the only database in the world that is being standardized for lagamatras (spelling) and padh chhedh (word separation) versus the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee’s (SGPC) published Gurbani pothis.

Furthermore, no change to the DB is approved without at least 3 peer reviews with full citations and audit trail. This exhaustive process ensures that no individual can tamper with Gurbani.

We have worked closely with Gursikhs and Sikh scholars around the world to build upon their previous work. These partners and collaborators include SHARE Charity UK, iGurbani, Gursevak, and others. This has allowed us to ensure we have high recall of Gurbani and Panthic sources typically sung in Kirtan or referenced in Katha.

A Living DB

BaniDB is a collective effort up of a group of dozens of volunteers who ensure that the DB continues to grow, and is properly vetted.

Secure

While BaniDB is a collaborative and collective effort, it is imperative that we also ensure it is an effort that secures the sanctity of Gurbani. As a result, we have chosen to take a controlled approach in order to allow for collaboration but also ensure fidelity of Gurbani data. We welcome others to get involved, but have seen too many instances of Gurbani being misused and altered to feel comfortable making the data completely open. This approach is modeled on the approach Sikhs have traditionally taken with Gurbani.

Get Involved

Interested in coding? Have a love for Gurbani? Want to help with Marketing? Whatever your passions, we would love to work with you. Reach out to us and join our active Slack Channel today!

Found a mistake in Gurbani? Have a better translation? Become a contributor to BaniDB! Visit: https://tinyurl.com/banidb-signup for instructions.

Feature Comparison

The table below outlines some stats about BaniDB, as of 01/14/2020.

Source	Accurate	Corrections/Changes	Maintained	Multiple Raters per Change	SGPC Compatible Lagamatras & Padh Chhedh	DSGMC Approval
BaniDB	✅	43,000+	✅	✅	✅✅	✅
SikhiToTheMax Web	Uses BaniDB	Uses BaniDB	Uses BaniDB	Uses BaniDB	Uses BaniDB	Uses BaniDB
SikhiToTheMax 2	80-90%	6,000+	❌	❌	❌❌	❌
iGurbani	80-90%	1,000+	✅	❌	❌❌	❌
Sikher	????	????	❌	❌	❌❌	❌
Others	????	????	✅	❌	✅❌	❌

Current Users

See our Partner Page for information.

Gurbani Sources

Below is a list of sources used as ground truth for Gurbani accuracy. We have digitized sources via manual scanning, and have consolidated existing digital sources and uploaded these to www.vidhia.com to help facilitate sudhaee (correction) efforts.

Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

Source	Source Type	Author	Publisher	Edition	Link
Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Lareevar Sarroop	Primary	Multiple	SGPC	September 2009	No Link Available
Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji	Primary	Multiple	SGPC	Unknown	[Link]
Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Shabadarth	Primary	SGPC	SGPC	October 2009	[Link]
Panj Granthi	Primary	Multiple	SGPC	September 2010	[Link]
Nitnem te Hor Bania(n)	Primary	Mulitple	SGPC	May 2017	[Link]
Santhya Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Volumes 1-7	Secondary	Bhai Sahib Bhai Veer Singh Ji	Bhai Veer Singh Sahit Sadan	October 2007	[Link]
Teeka Anek Bania(n) Volumes 1-3	Secondary	Bhai Sahib Bhai Veer Singh Ji	Bhai Veer Singh Sahit Sadan	4th edition, April 2008	[Volume 1] [Volume 2] [Volume 3]
Nitnem Steek	Secondary	Professor Sahib Singh	Singh Brothers	29th edition, April 2012	[Link]
Jap Ji Sahib Steek	Secondary	Professor Sahib Singh	Singh Brothers	36th edition, July 2011	[Link]
Sukhmani Sahib Steek	Secondary	Professor Sahib Singh	Singh Brothers	40th edition, February 2012	[Link]
Bhagat Bani Steek Volumes 1-5	Secondary	Professor Sahib Singh	Singh Brothers	13th edition, July 2011	[Volume 1] [Volume 2] [Volume 3] [Volume 4] [Volume 5]
Bhagat Bani Steek	Secondary	Giani Bishan Singh	Bhai Partap Singh Sundar Singh	6th edition, May 1930	[Link]

Sri Dasam Granth Sahib

Source	Source Type	Author	Publisher	Edition	Link
Das Granthi	Primary	Guru Gobind Singh Ji	SGPC	March 2006	[Link]
Sri Dasam Granth Volumes 1-2	Secondary	Guru Gobind Singh Ji	Chattar Singh Jeevan Singh	Unknown	No Link Available
Akal Ustat	Primary	Guru Gobind Singh Ji	SGPC	5th edition, December 1995	[Link]
Bachitar Natak	Primary	Guru Gobind Singh Ji	SGPC	7th edition, July 2000	[Link]
Nitnem te Hor Bania(n)	Primary	Mulitple	SGPC	May 2017	[Link]
Nitnem, Das Granthi, ate Hor Bania(n)	Secondary	Multiple	Hazoori Taksaal	2006	[Link]
Sri Dasam Granth Sahib Steek Volumes 1-2	Secondary	Giani Bishan Singh Ji	Khalsa College Amritsar	1941	[Volume 1] [Volume 2]
Chandi Di Vaar Steek	Secondary	Pandit Narain Singh	Bh. Jvahar Singh, Kirpal Singh & Co	20th century	[Link]
Nitnem Steek	Secondary	Professor Sahib Singh	Singh Brothers	29th edition, April 2012	[Link]
Jaap Sahib Steek	Secondary	Professor Sahib Singh	Singh Brothers	17th edition, August 2003	[Link]

Bhai Gurdaas Ji

Source	Source Type	Author	Publisher	Edition	Link
Vaaran Bhai Gurdaas Ji	Primary	Bhai Gurdaas Ji	SGPC	November 2011	[Link]
Vaaran Bhai Gurdaas Ji	Secondary	Giani Hazara Singh Ji Pandit & Bhai Sahib Bhai Veer Singh Ji	Bhai Veer Singh Sahit Sadan	21st edition, June 2001	[Link]
Vaaran Bhai Gurdaas Ji Steek	Secondary	Giani Harbans Singh	Khalsa Sahit Sadan	December 2004	[Link]

Bhai Nand Lal Ji

Source	Source Type	Author	Publisher	Edition	Link
Bhai Nand Lal Granthavali	Primary	Dr. Ganda Singh	Punjabi University Patiala	2009	[Link]
Ganj Namah Steek	Secondary	Bhai Veer Singh Ji	Bhai Veer Singh Sahit Sadan	2012	[Link]

Sarabloh Granth, Amrit Keertan, and Rehatname

Source	Source Type	Author	Publisher	Edition	Link
Sri Sarabloh Granth Sahib Ji Sampooran Steek Volumes 1-2	Primary	Santa Singh	Buddha Dal	June 2000	[Link]
Amrit Keertan	Primary	Multiple	Khalsa Brothers	40th edition, July 2011	[Link]

Translation Sources

Below is a list of sources used for translations. We have digitized sources via manual scanning and have consolidated existing digital sources.

Source	Author	Publisher	Edition	Link
BaniDB	BaniDB Volunteers and Partners	KhalisFoundation	Living	http://www.sikhitothemax.org
Fareedkot Teeka	Sant Giani Badan Singh Ji of Dera Sekhwan et al.	Wazir Hind Press	1928	No link available
Bhai Manmohan Singh	Bhai Manmohan Singh	SGPC	c1948	No link available
Sikhnet	Bhai Ji Singh Sahib Babaji Singh Khalsa	Sikhnet	October 2008	https://www.sikhnet.com/news/siri-guru-granth-sahib-spanish
Sri Guru Granth Sahib Darpan	Professor Sahib Singh	SGPC	c1965	No link available
Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa	Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa	Sikhnet	2	https://www.sikhnet.com/siri-guru-granth-sahib-w-english-translation

Metrics

Date	Verified Changes
04/13/2024	46,810
11/18/2020	43,649
01/14/2020	43,042
01/07/2020	42,540
01/05/2020	42,005
11/06/2019	41,544
05/26/2019	41,250
05/25/2019	41,000
04/20/2019	40,750
03/05/2019	40,500
02/19/2019	40,250
02/18/2019	40,000
02/05/2019	39,750
02/01/2019	39,500
01/25/2019	39,000
01/01/2019	37,792
07/01/2018	35,674
01/01/2018	7,937

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