A gurdwara or gurudwara 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 Dasam Granth is a collection of various poetic compositions attributed to Guru Gobind Singh. The text enjoyed an equal status with the Adi Granth, or Guru Granth Sahib, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and were installed side by side on the same platform. The Dasam Granth lost favor during the colonial period when reformist Singh Sabha Movement scholars couldn't contextualize the reworkings of Puranic stories or the vast collection of 'Tales of Deceit' Sri Charitropakhyan.
The standard edition of the text contains 1,428 pages with 17,293 verses in 18 sections. These are set in the form of hymns and poems mostly in the Braj language, with some parts in Avadhi, Punjabi, Hindi and Persian. The script is written almost entirely in Gurmukhi, except for the Guru Gobind Singh's letters to Aurangzeb—Zafarnama and the Hikaaitaan—written in the Persian alphabet.
The Nishan Sahib in Sikhism is a triangular flag made of cotton or silk cloth, with a tassel at its end. The current form of the Nishan Sahib that is in use throughout Gurdwaras around the world has an orange (saffron) background color that has the Khanda symbol in the center of the flag. It is commonly hoisted on a tall flagpole outside Gurdwaras.
The Takht Sri Darbar Sahib Damdama Sahib, is one of the five takhts or Seat of Temporal Authority of Sikhism, located in Talwandi Sabo in Punjab, India. At this place Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, prepared the full version of the Sikh scriptures called Sri Guru Granth Sahib in 1705. The other four Takhts are the Akal Takht, Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib, Takht Sri Patna Sahib and Takht Sri Hazur Sahib.
Goindwal, also known as Goindwal Sahib and alternatively transliterated as Goindval, is located in the Taran Taran district of the Majha region of Punjab, India about 23 km from Tarn Taran Sahib. In the 16th century it became an important center for the Sikh religion during the Guruship of the Guru Amar Das Ji. Goindwal is on the banks of the river Beas and is one of the focal points of small scale industries of Tarn Taran district.
Panj Pyare refers to a gathered ad hoc quintet of five baptized (Amritdhari) Khalsa Sikhs who act as institutionalized leaders for the wider Sikh community.
Bhai Mani Singh was an 18th-century Sikh scholar and martyr. He was a childhood companion of Guru Gobind Singh and took the vows of Sikhism when the Guru inaugurated the Khalsa in March 1699. Soon after that, the Guru sent him to Amritsar to take charge of Harmandir Sahib, which had been without a custodian since 1696. He took control and steered the course of Sikh destiny at a critical stage in Sikh history. He was also a teacher of the Gianian Bunga, later becoming known as the "Amritsari Taksal", currently located in Sato Ki Gali.
Guru Nanak founded the Sikh faith in the Punjab region of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent in the end of fifteenth century. He was first of the ten Sikh Gurus. The tenth, Guru Gobind Singh, formalised its practices on 13 April 1699. He baptised five Sikh people from different parts of India, with different social backgrounds, to form Khalsa fauj. Those five Beloved Ones, the Pañj Piārē, then baptised him into the Khalsa fold. This gives the order of Khalsa a history of around 500 years. Historical theory and analysis suggests that Sikhism came into existence during the early Medieval period of the Bhakti movement and also after repeated invasions by Muslim rulers upon the Hindu community during Mughal rule, which lasted between especially in the region of North India.
Sarbat Khalsa, was a biannual deliberative assembly of the Sikhs held at Amritsar in Panjab during the 18th century. It literally translates to the "entire Sikh Nation" but as a political institution it refers to the meetings of the Dal Khalsa, Sikh Misls, and the legislature of the Sikh Empire.
Nanakpanthis, also known as Nanakshahis, are terms that refer to followers of a Sikh sect who follow the teachings of and revere Guru Nanak (1469-1539), the foundational guru of a spiritual community natively known as Nanakpanth.
Varan Bhai Gurdas, also known as Varan Gyan Ratnavali, is the name given to the 40 vars which is traditionally attributed to Bhai Gurdas.
The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) is organization in India responsible for the management of Gurdwaras, Sikh places of worship in Delhi. It also manages various educational institutions, hospitals, old age homes, libraries and other charitable institutions in Delhi. It is headquartered in Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, near Parliament House. Currently, the president of DSGMC is Harmeet Singh Kalka.
Harjinder Singh Dilgeer He is the only author who has written Complete History of the Sikhs and has translated Guru Granth Sahib in English and has published NEW MAHAN KOSH Encyclopedia of Sikh literature, Punjab & Sikh History {3 of the 4 volumes of the NEW Mahan Kosh have been published in March 2021. He has written in detail about the concept and the history of Akal Takht Sahib, Sikh culture, Shiromani Akali Dal, history of Anandpur Sahib, and Kiratpur Sahib, Dictionary of Sikh Philosophy etc. The Sikh Reference Book is his magnum opus. 'The Sikh Reference Book' is an encyclopedia consisting of more than 2400 biographies, complete chronology of Sikh history, 400 concepts of Sikh philosophy as well more than 800 Sikh shrines. He has produced a Sikh Encyclopedia CD-ROM. His latest books are Encyclopedia of Jalandhar (English), Banda Singh Bahadur, Sikh Twareekh in five volumes, Sikh History in ten volumes ; and English translations of Nitnaym and Sukhmani Sahib.. His latest work is the English translation of Guru Granth Sahib, in seven volumes and a Sikh encyclopedia named Nawah Mahan Kosh consisting of four volumes.
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 as Guru Nanak Gurpurab on Katak Pooranmashi, i.e. October–November.
A takht, or taḵẖat, literally means a throne or seat of authority and is a spiritual and temporal centre of Sikhism. There are five takhts, which are five gurudwaras that have a very special significance for the Sikh community. Three are located in Punjab whilst the remaining two are located outside of it.
Sardar Kapur Singh (1909–1986) was an Indian civil servant in Punjab and later a politician belonging to Shiromani Akali Dal. He was a Sikh intellectual, and wrote about Sikh religion and politics. He was also the author of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution of the Akali Dal in 1973, demanding rights of Punjab and the Sikh community. Singh was proficient in multiple languages including English, Punjabi, Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit.
Pashaura Singh (1928–2008) also known as Santa Singh or to Nihang Sikhs as Jathedar Akali Baba Santa Singh Ji Nihang 96 Crori was the 13th Jathedar of Budha Dal, succeeding Akali Chet Singh.
Sikh sects, denominations, traditions, movements, sub-traditions, also known as sampardai in the Punjabi language, are sub-traditions within Sikhism that believe in different approaches to practicing the religion. While all sampradas believe in the One Creator God typically rejecting both idol worship and caste systems. Different interpretations have emerged over time, some of which have a living teacher as the leader. The major historic traditions in Sikhism, states Harjot Oberoi, have included Udasi, Nirmala, Nanakpanthi, Khalsa, Sahajdhari, Namdhari Kuka, Nirankari and Sarvaria.
The Jathedar of the Akal Takht is the head of the Akal Takht and head of the Sikhs worldwide. The jathedar has the de facto power as the supreme spokesperson of the Khalsa to summon, trial and sentence any person who identifies as a Sikh from the Akal Takht.
