Akhand Paath is an unbroken recitation (recited out loud) of the entire Siri Guru Granth Sahib from beginning to end. It can be in honor of a particular occasion or simply to increase one’s feeling of connection to the Guru. A weekly Akhand Paath gives the Sadh Sangat a beautiful opportunity to establish a close relationship with the Guru and provides the blessing of the Guru’s Word to the community.

When Guru Gobind Singh finished writing the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, he had five members of the Sadh Sangat read it to him. He stood and listened to the entire Siri Guru Granth. People brought him water for his bath and for for his meals where he stood. This was the first Akhand Paath. There were five who read Japji Sahib. There were five sevadars to take care of everything around Siri Guru Granth Sahib during the Paath, five guards to stand and guard the place and five cooks to cook meals for all the participants.

The second Akhand Paath was in Nanded after Guru Gobind Singh sent Banda Singh Bahadur to Panjab. The Akhand Paathees (readers in the Paath ) were Bhai Gurbaksh Singh, Baba Deep Singh, Bhai Dharam Singh (of Panj Piaray), Bhai Santokh Singh, and Bhai Har Singh (who used to write the daily diary of Guru Gobind Singh). Before giving the Guruship to Siri Guru Granth Sahib, (then called the Adi Granth) Guru Gobind Singh held this Akhand Paath and then proclaimed the Adi Granth as Siri Guru.

After this the Sikhs started the tradition of dedicating Akhand Paaths to various activities. Before battle, the Sikhs listened to an Akhand Paath and then prepared for Martrydom. Before the Sikhs set out to rescue 18,000 women from the Moguls they performed an Akhand Paath. In 1742, when Sikhs were in the jungles, one Sikh woman warrior named Bibi Sundari, requested in her last moments of life, after being wounded in battle, to have an Akhand Paath. She lay there next to Siri Guru Granth Sahib. They wanted to finish it quickly so she could hear the whole Siri Guru Granth Sahib before dying, so they completed it within 48 hours. After kirtan, Ardas and Hukam, she received prashad, uttered Wahe Guru Ji ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji ki Fateh, breathing her last. Thus began the tradition of reading an Akhand Paath in 48 hours.

If the Akhand Paath is to be recited in Gurmukhi, then it should be completed within 48 hours.
If it is to be done in English, it will need 72 hours to complete.

During an Akhand Paath, if a Hukam is taken at the end of a program, the Paathee (person reading the Paath) reads the Gurbani that they have arrived at in the regular course of reading. They may slow down and read it clearly. In this case, the first and last two lines are not repeated. When the Paathee reaches the end of the Hukam, they continue in the reading of the Akhand Paath. The English translation of the Hukam in this case may be read from another volume set.

Source: victory and virtue