 | |
| Owner | SikhNet branch of 3HO |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | Ash Singh Gurumustuk Singh Khalsa |
| URL | sikhiwiki |
| Registration | Optional |
| Users | 93,526 (July 2024) |
| Launched | 2005 |
| Current status | Active |
SikhiWiki is a Sikh-centric online encyclopedia operated by the 3HO organization under its SikhNet umbrella. [1]
The idea of creating an online Sikh encyclopedia is attributed to Ash Singh after he had a television interview where the importance of documenting Sikh history, from both the distant past and present, was discussed. [2] Ash Singh partnered with Gurumustuk Singh Khalsa, then webmaster of SikhNet, to create SikhiWiki. [2] SikhiWiki was launched in 2005. [3] The website was inspired by Wikipedia and claims to cover "Sikh philosophy, history, culture and lifestyle". [2] The website is open to the wider community who can freely edit its pages. [2] The operators used the term 'encyclomedia' to describe their website. [2] SikhiWiki is maintained by SikhNet and most of the individuals maintaining it are volunteers. [2]
As of March 2012, there were nearly 6,000 articles hosted on SikhiWiki. [1] As of July 2024, the website contains 6,359 articles and 10,123 uploaded files, with 93,526 registered members. [4]
According to Conner Singh VanderBeek, SikhiWiki provides "... the most comprehensive resource on basic terms, tenets, and histories of the Sikh faith". [3] SikhiWiki does not absolve Sikh separatists as guiltless in its article covering the Khalistan movement. [3] Doctrinal discussions and debates also occur on SikhiWiki, such as on the practice of vegetarianism. [1]
SikhiWiki promotes a mainstream, normative, orthodox, Khalsa-orientated narrative of the Sikh religion. [1] An example of this is on their article covering the heterodoxical Namdhari sect, which contains a disclaimer warning about sects and cults that evolved after the timeline of the Sikh gurus. [1] This disclaimer is followed by a further explanation warning about sects, cults, "fake" babas , deras, "fake" Nihangs, Sanatan Dharmis, "pseudo" Akalis and Mahants, "pseudo" intellectuals and historians, leftists, and agnostics, which it claims are "not considered a part of Sikhism". [1] SikhiWiki asserts that these above groups are distortions of Gurmat (the true teachings of Sikhism) created to damage Sikhism. [1] It further claims that none of the above groups were created by a guru or bhagat. [1] This leads to Sikhs belonging to heterodoxical, non-normative Sikh sects to go elsewhere for information. [1]