The book Gur Partap Suraj, popularly known as the Suraj Parkash is detailed work of 51,829 verses describing the lives of the last nine Sikh Gurus and Banda Bahadur. It was finished in 1843 by Bhai Santokh Singh. It is a sequel to his own Nanak Prakash, describing the life of the first Guru.
The lives of the Gurus, are divided into twelve Raas or sections. The life of the tenth Guru is presented in six Ruts (literally six seasons), and into two Ayans, the ascending and descending phases of the year. The whole work is written Braj dialect of classical Hindi, with a significant use of Sanskrit words.
Bhai Santokh Singh is said to have drawn from the writings of Bhai Gurbaksh Singh, who survived Guru Gobind Singh by 25 years and passed on his history to Bhai Sahib Singh.
Suraj Parkash is one of the most revered Sikh scriptures which is recited regularly in the afternoon in a katha form (story telling manner) in all the gurdwaras.
Suraj Parkash was first edited by Bhai Vir Singh during 1926-1935. On the direction of the SGPC, Professor Kirpal Singh has started the re-editing of Suraj Parkash to remove "mythological content", which shows Hindu influence and place it in an appendix. The editing has been criticised by some [1] as amounting to "poetic as well as religious sacrilege"