Arti or Arati is a Hindu ritual employed in worship, part of a puja, in which light from a flame is ritually waved to venerate deities. Arti also refers to the songs sung in praise of the deity, when the light is being offered. Sikhs have Artikirtan which involves only devotional singing; the Nihang order of Sikhs also use light for arti.
A gurdwara or gurudwara is a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs but its normal meaning is place of guru or "Home of guru". Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as Gurdwara Sahib. People from all faiths and religions are welcomed in gurdwaras. Each gurdwara has a Darbar Sahib where the Guru Granth Sahib is placed on a takht 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 the 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.
Guru Amar Das, sometimes spelled as Guru Amardas, was the third of the Ten Gurus of Sikhism and became Sikh Guru on 26 March 1552 at age 73.
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 Ardās is a set prayer in Sikhism. It is a part of worship service in a Gurdwara, daily rituals such as the opening the Guru Granth Sahib for prakash or closing it for sukhasan in larger Gurdwaras, closing of congregational worship in smaller Gurdwaras, rites-of-passages such as with the naming of child or the cremation of a loved one, daily prayer by devout Sikhs and any significant Sikh ceremonies.
Jainism (/ˈdʒeɪnɪzəm/), traditionally known as Jain Dharma, is an ancient Indian religion. Jain dharma traces its spiritual ideas and history through a succession of twenty-four leaders or tirthankaras, with the first in current time cycle being Lord Rishabhanatha, whom the Jain tradition holds to have lived millions of years ago, the twenty-third tirthankara Parshvanatha whom historians date to 8th or 7th century BCE, and the 24th tirthankara, Mahāvīra around 500 BCE. Jains believe that Jainism is an eternal dharma with the tirthankaras guiding every cycle of the Jain cosmology.
Nitnem is a collection of Sikh hymns (Gurbani) to be read minimally 3 different times of the day. These are mandatory and to be read by every Amritdhari Sikh as expressed in the Sikh Rehat Maryada. Optionally additional prayers may be added to a Sikh's nitnem. There are five hymns (Five Banis) to be done during Amrit Vela, the Rehras Sahib hymn for the evening and Kirtan Sohila for the night. The morning and evening prayers should be followed by an Ardaas.
Anand Sahib is a collection of hymns in Sikhism, written in the Ramkali Raag by Guru Amar Das, the third Guru of the Sikhs. It appears on the pages 917 to 922 in Guru Granth Sahib Ji. The word Anand means complete happiness.
A Granthi is a person, female or male, of the Sikh religion who is a ceremonial reader of the Guru Granth Sahib, which is the holy book in Sikhism, often read to worshipers at Sikh temples called a Gurdwara.
Krodh is derived from the Sanskrit word krodha (क्रोध), which means wrath or rage. This is an state of mind recognized in Sikh philosophy as a spring of desire and is as such classified as one of the five evils.
In Sikhism, God is conceived as the Oneness that permeates the entirety of creation and beyond. It abides within all of creation as symbolized by the symbol Ik Onkar. The One is indescribable yet knowable and perceivable to anyone who surrenders their egoism and meditates upon that Oneness. The Sikh gurus have described God in numerous ways in their hymns included in the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikhism, but the oneness of formless God is consistently emphasized throughout.
Bhai Mardana was one of the first Sikhs and longtime companion of Guru Nanak Dev, first in the line of gurus noted in Sikhism. Bhai Mardana was a Muslim by-birth who would accompany Guru Nanak Dev on his journeys and became one of his first disciples and followers, and converted to the newly established religion. Bhai Mardana was born to a Mirasi Muslim family, a couple, Badra and Lakkho, of Rai Bhoi di Talwandi, now Nankana Sahib of Pakistan. He was the seventh born, all other children had died at birth. He had very good knowledge of music and played rabāb when Guru Nanak sung Gurbani. Swami Haridas was the disciple of Bhai Mardana and learnt Classical Music from him.
Bhagat Sain, also known as Sena Bhagat, was a Hindu mystic poet and saint of the Bhakti movement that lived in the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth century. His name was known in every house due to his devotion to god. Bhagat Sain was a barber of the royal court of Raja Ram Singh, ruler of Rewa. He was a disciple of Ramananda.
Psalm 74 is the 74th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever?". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 73. In Latin, it is known as "Ut quid Deus reppulisti in finem iratus". Subheaded a maschil or contemplation, and a community lament, it expresses the pleas of the Jewish community in the Babylonian captivity. It is attributed to Asaph.
Guru Gaddi, alternatively spelt as Gurgadi, Gurgadhi, or Gurgaddi, means "seat of the guru".
Khalsa Mahima is the name of two compositions that praise the Khalsa in poetic form, composed by Guru Gobind Singh, each present in Dasam Granth and Sarbloh Granth.
Chaubis Avtar is a composition in Dasam Granth containing history of 24 incarnations (avatars) of Vishnu.
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, containing 5,894 hymns of 36 saint mystics which includes Sikh gurus, 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 the Sikh gurus themselves.
