Guru Nanak was born in 1469 in the village of Rai Bhoi di Talvandi, now known as Nankana Sahib and located in present-day Pakistan. His father was a village accountant for the local Muslim landlord. He showed an early aptitude for languages and spiritual inquiry, questioning the rituals of both the Hindu and Muslim traditions that surrounded him. At approximately age 30, after working as a grain steward and starting a family, he experienced what his followers describe as a transformative spiritual awakening. He disappeared for three days near a river, and when he returned, he reportedly said: "There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim." This statement became the foundation of his teaching. Nanak spent the next two decades traveling, possibly covering thousands of miles across South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. The extent of his journeys is debated by historians, but Sikh tradition holds that he visited Mecca, Baghdad, Tibet, and various Hindu pilgrimage sites. At each destination, he engaged religious leaders in dialogue, challenging ritualism, caste hierarchy, and the exclusivity of religious identity. His message was consistent: there is one God, accessible to all people regardless of birth or background. Ritual for its own sake was meaningless. Service to others was the highest form of worship. Honest work and sharing were moral obligations. He gathered followers who called themselves Sikhs, meaning "seekers" or "learners." He established the practice of langar, a communal kitchen where all people, regardless of caste or religion, sat together and ate the same food. The practice was radical in a society rigidly structured by caste. He died on September 22, 1539. Five hundred years later, there are approximately 25 million Sikhs worldwide, and the langar tradition continues in every Sikh gurdwara on earth.