Sikhs had a central place of worship- Harmandir; they now needed authentic Hymns of their Gurus. Guru Nanak used to write his own hymns in books called POTHI during his visits to various countries. Guru Arjan Dev made trips to Goindwal, Khadur and Kartarpur to visit the families of the previous Gurus. He sent trusted Sikhs such as Bhai Piara, Bhai Gurdas and Baba Buddha ji across the country in search of original manuscripts.

Original manuscripts of the Gurus were collected by Mohan from Datu, son of Guru Angad Dev and Sri Chand, son of Guru Nanak Dev. In turn Guru Arjan dev collected the manuscripts from Mohan ultimately. While Baba Buddha ji looked after the spiritual needs of the large number of followers visiting Harmandir Sahib, Guru Arjan Dev pitched a tent by the side of Ramsar sarovar and started compiling the first edition of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. He dictated the first Master copy to Bhai Gurdas. Guru Arjan Dev decided to include the compositions of Hindu and Muslim saints which he considered consistent with the philosophy of Sikhism and the Gurus, unlike any other religious book in history of the religious world.

Guru Gobind Singh prepared the second edition, (called Damdami Birh) which he completed at Damdama, a town in the State of Punjab in India in 1705. Since then, this Authorized Version has been printed numerous times, always conforming to the Damdama edition in every respect.

On October 20, 1708 Guru Gobind Singh gave his final sermon that conferred permanent Gurudom on the Damdama version of the Granth (Damdami Birh) at Nanded, a town several hundred miles away from Damdama. Since then, the Granth has come to be known as Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

And that's how the last guru, Guru Gobind Singh, thus spoke to the congregation on October 20, 1708 shortly before his ascension.

"Those who desire to behold the Guru, should obey the Granth Sahib. Its contents are the visible body of the Guru."

It has been preserved in its original format since its last completion by Guru Gobind Singh.

Sri Guru Granth Sahib is not an ordinary book, but a Holy Scripture. Within its 1430 pages, the shabads (hymns) of Sri Guru Granth Sahib are arranged in 31 Ragas in the traditional Indian musical scales and measures. Within the Ragas, they are arranged in order by the Sikh Gurus, and then with the shabads of the Hindu and Muslim Saints The shabads are written in various meters and rhythms, and are organized accordingly. For instance, Ashtapadi - eight steps, or Panch-padi - five steps. Sri Guru Granth Sahib is written in Gurmukhi script, and in many different languages. From the linguistic point of view, Sri Guru Granth Sahib is a treasure of the languages included, like- Persian, Arabic Sanskrit, Prakrit, Bengali, Marathi,Punjabi Kharhi boli and Dakhni etc.

The Granth starts with a non-raga section –Japji, as the first entry. This is followed by thirty-one ragas in the following serial order: Sri Raag, Manjh, Gauri, Asa, Gujri, Devagandhari, Bihagara, Wadahans, Sorath, Dhanasri, Jaitsri, Todi, Bairari, Tilang, Suhi, Bilaval, Gound, Ramkali, Nut Narayan, Mali Gaura, Maru, Tukhari, Kedara, Bhairo, Basant, Sarang, Malar, Kahnra, Kalyan, Parbhati and Jaijawanti, saloks and swayas. The final sections are Mundawani with a Salok and Rag Mala

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