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Sikhism, also known as Sikhi or Sikh Dharma, is an Indian religion that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, around the end of the 15th century CE. It is the most recently founded major organized faith and stands at fifth-largest worldwide, with about 25–30 million adherents as of the early 21st century.
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 current and everlasting guru of the Sikhs, the scripture 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.
Guru Angad was the second of the ten Sikh gurus of Sikhism. After meeting Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, becoming a Sikh, and serving and working with Guru Nanak for many years, Guru Nanak gave Lehna the name Angad, and chose Angad as the second Sikh Guru.
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.
Sukhmani Sahib 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 Namdharis, also known as Kuka, are a Sikh sect that differs from mainstream Sikhs chiefly in that it believes that the lineage of Sikh Gurus did not end with Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708), as they recognize Balak Singh (1797–1862) as the 11th Guru of the Sikh religion, thus continuing the succession of Sikh Gurus through the centuries from Guru Nanak Dev to the present day. The 12th Guru was Ram Singh (1816–1885), who moved the sects centre to Bhaini Sahib (Ludhiana) and is regarded as the first Indian to use non-cooperation and non-violence boycott in order to combat the British Empire in India.
Mata Tripta was the mother of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism. Her father was Bhai Raam, a Jhangar Khatri from the village of Chaliawala, near Lahore, and her mother was Mata Bhirai. She is said to have possessed a kind-hearted and soft-spoken disposition. She gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Nanaki in 1464. Due to the birth of a girl child as the first-born and the resultant disappoint of her husband, Mata Tripta started becoming more fervently religious in-order to please the deities in hopes for a son. Mata Tripta gave birth to Guru Nanak Dev on 15 April 1469, in the village of Rai Bhoi Di Talwandi, some forty miles west of Lahore in the Sheikhupura district of Punjab, Pakistan. She was born from a Hindu family. The name of the town was changed to Nankana Sahib in honour of the Guru.
Hinduism and Sikhism are Indian religions. Hinduism has pre-historic origins, while Sikhism was founded in the 15th century by Guru Nanak. Both religions share many philosophical concepts such as Karma, Dharma, Mukti, Maya although both religions have different interpretation of some of these concepts. In the days of the Mughal Empire, the Sikh community came to the defence of the persecuted Hindus and other non-Muslims who were being forcibly converted to Islam.
The Janamsakhis, are legendary biographies of Guru Nanak – the founder of Sikhism. Popular in the Sikh history, these texts are considered by scholars as imaginary hagiographies of his life story, full of miracles and travels, built on a Sikh oral tradition and some historical facts. The first Janamsakhis were composed between 50 and 80 years after his death. Many more were written in the 17th and 18th century. The largest Guru Nanak Prakash, with about 9,700 verses, was written in the early 19th century.
Jat Sikh is a sub-group of the Jat people and the Sikh religious group from the Indian subcontinent. They are one of the dominant communities in the Punjab owing to their large land holdings.
Nirankari is a sect of Sikhism. It was a reform movement founded by Baba Dyal Das in northwest Punjab in 1851. He sought to restore the practices and beliefs of Sikhs back to what he believed were prevalent when Guru Nanak was alive. This movement emerged in the aftermath of the end of Sikh Empire and the Sikh history after Ranjit Singh's death.
Guru Ram Das was the fourth of the ten Gurus of Sikhism. He was born on 24 September 1534 in a family based in Lahore. His birth name was Jetha, and he was orphaned at age seven; he there after grew up with his maternal grandmother in a village.
Gurū Nānak, also referred to as Bābā Nānak, was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated worldwide as Guru Nanak Gurpurab on Katak Pooranmashi, i.e. October–November.
The Golden Temple is a gurdwara located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. It is the preeminent spiritual site of Sikhism. It is one of the holiest sites in Sikhism, alongside the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Kartarpur, and Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib.
Sikhism prohibits idolatry, in accordance with mainstream Khalsa norms and the teachings of the Sikh Gurus, a position that has been accepted as orthodox.
Guru Arjan was the first of the two Gurus martyred in the Sikh faith and the fifth of the ten total Sikh Gurus. He compiled the first official edition of the Sikh scripture called the Adi Granth, which later expanded into the Guru Granth Sahib.
William Hewat McLeod was a New Zealander scholar who helped establish Sikh Studies as a distinctive field.
Jagtar Singh Grewal was an Indian writer, historian, scholar, and a vice-chancellor of the Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU). After securing his Ph.D. and DLitt from London, he joined the GNDU, where he founded the Department of History. He was the first Dean of the Academic Affairs of the University and was a former member of faculty at the Panjab University, Chandigarh. After his superannuation from GNDU in 1984, he joined the Indian Institute of Advanced Study as its director.
Sub-traditions, also known as Samparda in the Punjabi language, are sub-traditions within Sikhism that believe in different approaches to practicing the religion. While all sampradas believe in Waheguru and one creator, do not believe in idol worship or caste system, different interpretation have emerged over time, some of which practise having a living teacher as the leader orthodox. The major historic traditions in Sikhism, states Harjot Oberoi, have included Udasi, Nirmala, Nanakpanthi, Khalsa, Sahajdhari, Namdhari Kuka, Nirankari and Sarvaria. During the persecution of Sikhs by Mughals, several splinter groups emerged such as the Udasis, Minas, and Ramraiyas during the early Guru period during the period between the death of Guru Har Krishan and the establishment of Guru Tegh Bahadur as the 9th Sikh Guru. These sects have had considerable differences. Some of these sects were financially and administratively supported by the Mughal Empire in the hopes of gaining a more favorable and compliant citizenry.
Pashaura Singh is a religious studies scholar and a professor at the University of California, Riverside where he currently holds the Dr. Jasbir Singh Saini Endowed Chair in Sikh and Punjabi Studies. He completed his Ph.D. at University of Toronto under the supervision of W. H. McLeod – an influential scholar and historian of Sikhism. Singh pursued an academic career and joined the University of Michigan, where he edited and co-published two collections of Sikh studies.
References
- ↑ McLeod, W. H. (2009). The A to Z of Sikhism. Scarecrow Press. p. 124. ISBN 9780810863446.