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Sikhism There are about eighteen million Sikhs in India, most of whom live in Punjab and Delhi. Sikhism was established by Guru Nanak (1469–1539) in 1497. He believed that God was one and that anyone could reach him. He emphasized three actions to understand God: meditating on God’s name, giving charity, and bathing. He rejected the worship of the deity, and established communal meals that crossed caste boundaries. He was born into a Hindu ksatriya family in Talwandi, a village west of Lahore (now in Pakistan). The Sikh religion was originally intended to bring the Hindu and Islamic religions together. It is similar to Hinduism, but the Sikhs are opposed to caste distinctions and pilgrimage to holy rivers. They are not opposed to pilgrimage to holy sites. Sikhs do visit holy places. They believe in one God and do not believe in worshipping images. They believe that Sikhs should be honest, and they will give shelter to anyone who wants to stay in their gurudwaras. They believe in karma and the cycle of repeated birth and death (samsara). They baptize their children and cremate their dead. The holy book of the Sikh religion is called the Granth Sahib. Guru Nanak was the first of ten gurus. His disciple, Guru Angad (limb), recorded Guru Nanak’s hymns and added his own in a new script called Gurumukhi. Gurumukhi has formed the present-day Punjabi script. Guru Ram Das (1552–1575) founded the city of Amritsar. Guru Arjan compiled the Adi Granth, a prayer book of the gurus. He was executed by Emperor Jehangir. The last Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh (1666–1708), did not name a successor but said the Sikh holy books should be accepted as guru. The Granth Sahib consists of the teachings of the ten Sikh gurus along with the teachings of Hindu and Muslim saints. Guru Gobind Singh introduced a military inflection into the Sikh religion because the Sikhs were being heavily persecuted. This is when the Khalsa (“the pure”) brotherhood was formed. Most Sikhs have the name Singh, “Lion.” Many Sikh homes have a room with a copy of the Granth Sahib in it. Members of the household start the day with private meditation, then read the Granth Sahib and recite verses written by Guru Nanak (japji). The Sikhs are supposed to wear the following five symbols (kakkars): a sword, kripan; a comb, kangh; short drawers, kacha; an iron ring on the right arm, kada; and long hair, kesh. Because Sikh men do not cut their hair throughout their lives, they are easy to identify. They cover their hair with a turban, and keep their beards long, sometimes twisting them up under their turbans. Sikhs have prohibitions against smoking, eating halal meat, and having sex with Muslims. The Sikhs worship congregationally in temples called gurudwaras (“gateway to the guru”). A gurudwara usually has a dome on top and a yellow flag. The Golden Temple in Amritsar, built at the end of the 16th century, is the most important Sikh temple. There are no priests or fixed times for worship, but people normally come to the gurudwaras in the mornings and evenings. Many worshipers visit the gurudwaras on the first day of the year and on Ekadasi (eleventh day of the lunar month). Worship in a gurudwara consists of chanting verses from the Adi Granth. If you know of a informationthat is not correct or if you would like to help update our listings, please e-mail us at:
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