A gurdwara is a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs. Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as Gurdwara Sahib. People from all faiths are welcomed in gurdwaras. Each gurdwara has a Darbar Sahib where the Guru Granth Sahib is placed on a takhat in a prominent central position. Any congregant may recite, sing, and explain the verses from the Guru Granth Sahib, in the presence of the rest of the congregation.
The Guru Granth Sahib is the central holy religious scripture of Sikhism, regarded by Sikhs as the final, sovereign and eternal Guru following the lineage of the ten human gurus of the religion. The Adi Granth, its first rendition, was compiled by the fifth guru, Guru Arjan (1564–1606). Its compilation was completed on 29 August 1604 and first installed inside Golden Temple in Amritsar on 1 September 1604. Baba Buddha was appointed the first Granthi of the Golden Temple. Shortly afterwards Guru Hargobind added Ramkali Ki Vaar. Later, Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru, added hymns of Guru Tegh Bahadur to the Adi Granth and affirmed the text as his successor. This second rendition became known as the Guru Granth Sahib and is also sometimes referred to as the Adi Granth.
The following outline is provides an overview of Sikhism, or Sikhi.
Sukhmani Sahib, known under the title of Gauri Sukhmani in the scripture, is usually translated to mean Prayer of Peace is a set of 192 padas present in the holy Guru Granth Sahib, the main scripture and living Guru of Sikhism from Ang 262 to Ang 296. This Gurbani text was written by the 5th Guru, Guru Arjan (1563–1606) at Amritsar in around 1602. Guru Arjan first recited the bani at Gurdwara Barth Sahib in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab, India.
The Sikh gurus are the spiritual masters of Sikhism, who established this religion over the course of about two and a half centuries, beginning in 1469. The year 1469 marks the birth of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. He was succeeded by nine other human gurus until, in 1708, the Guruship was finally passed on by the tenth guru to the holy Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, which is now considered the living Guru by the followers of the Sikh faith.
The principal Sikh scripture is the Adi Granth, more commonly called the Guru Granth Sahib. The second most important scripture of the Sikhs is the Dasam Granth. Both of these consist of text which was written or authorised by the Sikh Gurus.
Varan Bhai Gurdas is the name given to the 40 vars which is traditionally attributed to Bhai Gurdas.
The Bhatra Sikhs are a sub-group within the Sikhs who originated from the bards of the time of Guru Nanak. In the 20th century publication A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, Sir Denzil Ibbetson remarks that the Bhats claimed descent from the Brahmins. Eleanor Nesbitt and William Hewat McLeod suggested that they are a caste.
"Guru Maneyo Granth" refers to the historic statement of the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708) shortly before his demise on affirming the sacred scripture Adi Granth as his successor, thereby terminating the line of human Gurus. Installed as the Guru Granth Sahib, it is now the central holy scripture of Sikhism, and the eternal living Guru of all Sikhs. It is central to Sikh worship as it is said to imbibe the one light of the creator manifested in the Ten Sikh Gurus‐one spirit in ten forms.
Sri Chand, also referred to as Baba Sri Chandra or Bhagwan Sri Chandra, was the founder of the Udasi sect of ascetic Sadhus.
Pandit Tara Singh Narotam (1822–1891) or also Pundit Tara Singh Nawtam was a famous Punjabi scholar who belonged to the Hindu-Sikh Nirmala Sect.
Bhatt Kal Sahar was a Brahmin bard in the court of Guru Arjan, whose 54 hymns are incorporated in Adi Granth. The title Bhatt is given to learned Brahmins. Traditionally, Kal Sahar is believed to a collector of hymns of other Bhatts which were later incorporated into Guru Granth Sahib by Guru Arjan.
the Guru Granth Sahib, is the central religious text of Sikhism, considered by Sikhs to be the final sovereign Guru of the religion. It contains 1430 Angs (limbs), containing 5,894 hymns of 36 saint mystics which includes Sikh guru sahiban, Bhagats, Bhatts and gursikhs. It is notable among foundational religious scriptures for including hymns from writers of other religions, namely Hindus and Muslims. It also contains teachings of Sikh gurus themselves.
Bhatt Harbans was a Brahmin bard in the court of Guru Arjan, whose two hymns are present in Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs.
Bhatt Kirat was a Brahmin bard in the court of Guru Arjan, whose eight hymns are present in Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs. The title Bhatt is given to learned Brahmins.
Bhattan de Savaiye, also known as Bhatt Bani, is a name given to 123 Savaiyas composed by various Bhatts, which are present in Guru Granth Sahib, scripture of Sikhs. According to various scholars, these Savaiyas are eulogies of first five Gurus of Sikhism.
The Mīnās were a heretical sect of Sikhs that followed Prithi Chand, the eldest son of Guru Ram Das, after his younger brother Guru Arjan was selected by the Guru to succeed him. Prithi Chand would vigorously contest this, attracting a portion of Sikhs to his side who followers of Guru Arjan referred to as ਮੀਣੇ mīṇe, meaning "charlatans," "dissemblers," or "scoundrels." They sustained their opposition to the orthodox line of Gurus through the seventeenth century, and upon Guru Gobind Singh's founding of the Khalsa in 1699, they were declared by him, as well as by Khalsa rahitnamas, as one of the Panj Mel, or five reprobate groups, that a Sikh must avoid. They are occasionally referred to in the more neutral terms Sikhān dā chhotā mel or as the Miharvān sampraday in scholarship.
Baba Buddha was a prime figure in early Sikhism. He was born in 1506 in the village of Kathu Nangal, in Amritsar. His father's name was Sugha Randhawa and his mother was named Mai Gauran. His birth name was Bura. As a child, while grazing cattle outside his village, he met Guru Nanak. He asked Guru Nanak many questions regarding life and death, such that, at his young age, Guru Nanak blessed him with the name Buddha, as he spoke as if he were a wise elder. He was one of the earliest Sikhs of Guru Nanak, and performed the formal coronation ceremonies of the five Sikh gurus who succeeded Guru Nanak; Guru Angad, Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjan, and Guru Hargobind.
Sikhism in Bangladesh has an extensive heritage and history, although Sikhs had always been a minority community in Bengal. Their founder, Guru Nanak visited a number of places in Bengal in the early sixteenth century where he introduced Sikhism to locals and founded numerous establishments. In its early history, the Sikh gurus despatched their followers to propagate Sikh teachings in Bengal and issued hukamnamas to that region. Guru Tegh Bahadur lived in Bengal for two years, and his successor Guru Gobind Singh also visited the region. Sikhism in Bengal continued to exist during the colonial period as Sikhs found employment in the region, but it declined after the partition in 1947. Among the eighteen historical gurdwaras in Bangladesh, only five are extant. The Gurdwara Nanak Shahi of Dhaka is the principal and largest gurdwara in the country. The Sikh population in the country almost entirely consists of businessmen and government officials from the neighbouring Republic of India.
Kavi Santokh Singh was a Sikh literati, poet, and historian. He is regarded as the first scholar of the Nirmala sect of Sikhism.
