Sikh Gurus Research Articles

“Extremely Stupid Guidelines”: On The Development of Historical Questions Around Guru Tegh Bahadur’s Martyrdom

ABSTRACT In 1675, Mughal authorities beheaded Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru and, today, the martyrdom has become a highly contested historical question within scholarly circles. This article investigates the emergence of the event as a historical question and how the emphasis of historical fact-finding refashioned scholarly approaches to the Sikh tradition in the colonial and postcolonial periods. I end by exploring how the famous Sikh intellectual and politician, Sirdar Kapur Singh (1909-1986), drew upon the Sikh tradition to challenge the very premises of such historiographical framing in his landmark essay, “Who Killed Guru Tegh Bahadur?” and the limits to his challenge. I ask: What do we make of Kapur Singh’s frustration and disgust at the history writing that came to dominate the Sikh tradition? I show how Kapur Singh does not transcend the epistemological constraints of history through a better or more accurate rendition of the past. Instead, he disrupts the historiographical operation in his frustration with history writing and what he calls its “extremely stupid guidelines.”

The Status and Role of Women in Sikh Religious Doctrine

This study explores the status and role of women within Sikh doctrine, aiming to contribute to and enrich academic discussions on the intersection of religious doctrine and gender studies. Using a qualitative approach that focuses on religion and gender, the research employs a library-based methodology, analyzing various sources and relevant prior studies. The findings demonstrate that women in Sikhism are granted equal status to men, rooted in the doctrine that emphasizes an intimate relationship between humans and the divine, where gender holds no significance in the connection to God. Moreover, the study delves into human relationships as shaped by behaviors, attitudes, and societal norms during the Sikh Gurus' era, illustrating the ideal dynamics between men and women. Despite Sikh teachings of equality, women in the Sikh community still face challenges in accessing leadership roles, as cultural and historical narratives often prioritize male dominance. The contributions of Sikh women have been historically marginalized, leaving subsequent generations with limited role models. This research offers both theoretical insights into Sikhism and gender and practical implications for encouraging the Sikh community, particularly men, to uphold Guru Nanak’s vision of gender equality.

The Reverberation of the Sacred Gurbani’s Vibrations at the Darbar Sahib: The Issue of Its Television Broadcasting

This essay will examine the contemporary issue of the television broadcasting of the sacred Gurbani from the Darbar Sahib to set the stage for understanding the historical context of the musical sessions (chauṅkīs) of devotional singing, followed by the process of decolonizing the musical performances in modern times, including religious aesthetics and sacred time and the processional chauṅkīs in the Darbar Sahib Complex. The continuous singing of the Guru’s hymns (Gurbani kirtan) resounds inside the Darbar Sahib (“the Divine Court”), popularly known as the Golden Temple of Amritsar. This special mode of worship consists of singing and listening to the hymns of the Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred scripture of the Sikhs. The heart of Sikh devotional experience lies in the performance of scriptural hymns in a congregational setting. Notably, different sessions of devotional singing go on day and night from 2.45 a.m. to 10.45 p.m. at the Golden Temple, following a celebrated tradition established more than four centuries ago by the Fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan. Even during the four-hour period of cleaning the sanctum sanctorum at midnight, the devotees recite hymns from memory, thereby making the Darbar Sahib a unique place where vibrations of sacred sound reverberate continuously for twenty-four hours a day.

Mīrā’s “Earliest” Song and Her Images in History and Hagiography


 
 
 This essay revisits the scholarly consensus about the “earliest” song and early images of Mīrā—the sixteenth-century Rajput noblewoman who is a leading female voice in north Indian devotional (bhakti) movements. I show that what scholars have considered as Mīrā’s oldest extant poem—recorded in the Kartarpur manuscript of 1604, which culminated in the making of the Sikh Guru Granth Sāhib—has a different history of recension in the devotional sects of Rajasthan. In the early seventeenth-century manuscripts of the Dādūpanth, the same poem is not attributed to Mīrā but to Sukhānand, one of the twelve disciples of Rāmānand— the first Guru of the major Rām devotional sect of north India. Various possible explanations for this double attribution will be explored, and the question asked: What do the varied attributions of Mīrā’s “earliest” song tell us about the growth of a Mīrā corpus and the multiple Mīrās as represented in the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century hagiographies that emerged from her own region?
 
 

Disability and Sikhism: Theory and Praxis

Disability is a multifaceted and universal phenomenon that cuts across all cultures and religions. It poses unique challenges for individuals, families, and communities. It is shaped by a multitude of factors such as society, culture, economy, religion, etc. Sikhism, the fifth largest religion in the world, originated in the northern part of India in the 15th century with the first Sikh guru Nanak Dev (1469–1539). In the context of Sikhism, disability and religious teachings become important areas of exploration. This research paper attempts to understand how Sikhism addresses and engages with disability by highlighting both the theoretical foundations and practical manifestations. The theoretical foundations of Sikhism, i.e., equality, solidarity, and inclusiveness, are based on the supreme scripture Guru Granth Sahib, and the practical manifestations, i.e., rituals and norms, take their lead from Rehat Maryada, i.e., the Sikh code of conduct and conventions, which have been constructed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). The present paper examines the outlook of Sikhism towards disability in theory as per Guru Granth Sahib and in practice as per Sikh Rehat Maryada.

Diasporic Identity of Sikh Youth Among Jakarta's Multicultural Society

Purpose: The presence of the Sikh religion in Indonesia, particularly in Jakarta, is a group of ethnic minorities among Jakarta's multicultural society. Recognizing Sikh followers is seen in their identity, which is distinguished by the use of 5K. In Jakarta, the young Sikh diaspora also creates communities to maintain their sense of identity. The Sikh diaspora must be able to maintain their identity discrimination in order to continue practicing the Sikh religion as taught by Guru Nanak Dev and the other nine Sikh Gurus.
 Methodology: the method used in this research is qualitative type by using literature study method and interviewing sources. Data from literature study are taken from books, journals, proceedings and articles related to history, traditions, religious activity and current issues related to Sikh religion, position and identity of Sikh youth in Indonesia, especially in the city of Jakarta.
 Findings: Sikhism faces several challenges and issues that may affect young people, including questions of identity, belonging and meaning, as do all faith communities. The use of social media and digital podcasts has certainly been effective in capturing the attention of Sikh youth, as has the building of a Sikh online community using the Gurdwara as the primary venue for delivering Sikh religious enrichment programmes for youth.
 Implications: The strategy for strengthening beliefs and self-identity in Sikh youth is to begin using social media with the goal of being easily accepted by Sikh youth in this digital era.

Brave Children’s Day: The Sikh Version in the General Indian Context

The article examines the reaction and discussion in the Sikh environment to the decision of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to introduce a new all-Indian Holiday Veer Baal Diwas (“Brave Children’s Day”), which will be celebrated every December 26 starting from 2022 in memory of the martyrdom of the Sons of the Tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh. The article analyzes the historical context of the plot related to the refusal of the younger Sons of Guru – Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh to save their lives by adopting Islam and renouncing Sikhism, loyalty to Guru and Dharma. The initiative of the Prime Minister, with its general positive perception, divided the Sikhs into supporters of the unconditional acceptance of the concept of a new Holiday and those who supported the critical approach of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the Sikh political party Akali Dal, who considered the name of the Holiday unacceptable and at odds with the Sikh religious tradition. If there is no correction of the name of the Veer Baal Diwas Holiday, then it is appropriate to predict an explosion of discontent and criticism from the relevant political and religious forces and the part of the Sikh community that has joined them.

The “Vexed” Status of Guru Images: Visuality, Circulation and Iconographic Conflicts

ABSTRACT In 2007, the Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan wore an attire similar to calendar image of tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, and performed a ritual baptism, which became controversial. This article will show how this controversy opens up two significant issues: first, questioning the egalitarian ethos of caste equality upheld by the Sikh religion, and second, with regard to authenticity of religious practice – of what is deemed Sikh and non/un-Sikh practices. The controversy became the fulcrum for questions of visuality and material practices around imageries of Sikh gurus in the domain of popular religiosity and visual culture. This historically relates to the much-debated status of images around gurus in contemporary Punjab. The image and ritual become a crucial site of conflict with regard to questions of Sikh identity, religion and caste. Questions of iconoclasm, authenticity and representation have emerged around the images—largely audio-visual in nature--of the Sikh gurus. In this article I will analyse music video/s that engages with the genre of Sikhi (Sikh principles or faith) highlighting crisis in Sikh identity through lyrical and visual references, for instance to the institutions of popular religion, such as Deras. I then mainly argue that the DSS event cannot be grasped without understanding the modes of engagement and ritual practices around images of Sikh gurus. Such an analysis will not only underline contestations around the ‘vexed’ status of images comprising both Sikh and Dera gurus but will also critique the normative understanding of Sikh identity and religion.

Sikh Festivals and the Nanakshahi Calendar

In the article the introduction of the Nanakshahi calendar in 1998 (amended in 2003) is considered as an attempt of unification of the Sikh community, and formation of single-form Sikh identity. The evolution of a Sikh community is a long process and the result of the combination of different trends. The community of Sikhs started as the sect in Hinduism in time of Guru Nanak (1469 - 1539) but developed as a new religion under the leadership of his successors, known as the Gurus. Dates of main historical events of the Sikhs together with agricultural and New Year celebrations (Baisakhi, Diwali, Holi) became main festivals of the Sikh year. Gurpurbs or memorial days of the Sikh Gurus are also important part of the Sikh religious year. The matter is complicated by the activity of the Sikhs in diaspora. Recently Sikh religious authorities have introduced Sikh Nanakshahi calendar to create religious boundaries between the Sikhs and the Hindus. Indo-Canadian Sikh Pal Singh Purewal suggested mathematically correct Nanakshahi calendar based on tropical rather than sideral year. He suggested that this calendar is more correct than the North Indian calendar and the one different from that of the Hindus. His opponents claim that it is identical to Christian calendar. In 2003 this calendar was put in force. However, some Sikh festivals are still celebrated in old manner according to the old Vikram (Bikrami) North Indian calendar. Sikh communities in India and in the diaspora are divided now over the Nanakshahi calendar and days of gurpurbs.

Management of a religious mass gathering in North India: Parkash Utsav 550.

The 550th Birth Anniversary (Parkash Utsav) celebrations of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the first Sikh Guru, was celebrated with great devotion and fervor at Sultanpur Lodhi, Punjab, India, from November 1 to 14, 2019. The authors aimed to shed light on the planning and management of the event and the factors that led to its success. The researchers conducted key informant interviews with authority figures, resource mapping, and observations. The researchers focused on the event's medical lounge. Open-ended questions were asked to gather information regarding various measures taken to organize and execute the event. The data were entered and analyzed using Microsoft Excel 7.0 and SPSS 20.0 (Trial version). About three million people attended the Parkash Utsav 550 celebrations. Three tent cities were set up in Sultanpur Lodhi with the consideration for incoming road traffic. The state government deployed 820 medical personnel, including 150 doctors, 470 paramedics, and 200 volunteers. A total of 19,521 patients were seen in the outpatient department of the Medical Lounge. The government made sufficient arrangements for various services, such as drinking water, langar (or community kitchens), sanitation, and security. Approximately 37 langar halls were constructed in the town to provide healthy food to the devotees. An integrated command and control center was set up for surveillance and monitoring. For the convenience of the devotees, 1,908 toilets, 1,476 urinals, and 132 bathing units were installed. The District Administration of Kapurthala launched an event-specific mobile application, "Par-kash Utsav 550," for the use of pilgrims as well as government officials. No stampedes, outbreaks, and fire incidents were reported. Parkash Utsav 550 was successfully celebrated. Studying the Parkash Utsav 550 presented a unique opportunity to generate an evidence base for the development of solutions and recommendations for the prevention, management, and control of infectious diseases, stampedes, and fire incidents during mass gatherings. In-depth studies of the Parkash Utsav in the future are required to produce evidence for context-specific measures for addressing the complex health challenges of mass gatherings.

The Image of Guru Nanak in Dadu-Panthi Sources

This essay examines the issue of Guru Nanak’s inclusion in the mid-to-late seventeenth-century devotional text prepared by the Dadu-panthi savant, Raghavdas, the Bhakt-māl or Garland of Devotees. This text follows by some decades the similarly titled Bhakt-māl of Nabha Das. However, while Nabha Das excludes Guru Nanak, Raghavdas’ Bhakt-māl embraces him and includes a much more diverse seventeenth- and pre-seventeenth-century saintly clientele that was particular to both northern and southern India. The essay is one of the first to examine this text in Sikh studies and tease out the reasons which may have prompted Raghavdas to include Guru Nanak. In the process, it attempts to understand early non-Sikh bhakti views of the Sikh Gurus while also providing fresh looks at Sikh numbers in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and at the diverse and multi-ideological environment of northern India from the early 1600s onward. It also suggests Raghavadas’ familiarity with the poetry of his near contemporary ideologue, the great Sikh scholar Bhai Gurdas Bhalla.

E-7 The impacts of Islamic teachings on core ethics of Sikhism: A research overview

Sikhism means the path of discipline and disciple ship as shown by the Sikh gurus. Guru Nanak was founder of Sikhism, was born in 1469 A.D. The main source of Sikh theology is Guru Granth Sahib. Sikhism is a monotheistic religion. There are approximately twenty seven millions Sikhs around the world. The essential message of Sikhism is spiritual devotion and reverence of God. According to Sikhism God is realisable, approachable, and accessible entity. The commandments are the codified directions for the followers of a faith. Guru Nanak, laid down three foundation stones of the Sikh faiths, to meditate the name of God, to work honestly for his livings and to share his wealth and happiness to others. The moral standards of a society are the focal points of any ethical theory. There are three major concepts of Sikh philosophy hukam, purity and the solidarity of mankind. In Sikhism, there are four inter related sets of rationale.The first set includes five evils, second set comprises eight virtues, the third set contains social and religious duties and the final set presents the way to realise the divine idealism. In this article a detailed study is presented regarding core ethics of Sikhism.

Fresco Paintings in the Khem Singh Bhedi Haveli

This paper debated an overview of fresco paintings of historical Sikh Haveli, which is situated on the Potohar Plateau and located in Kallar Sayedan at Rawalpindi. The Haveli is locally known as Bhedi Mahal. The Potohar Plateau is not famous for prehistoric cultures but also for the Hindu and Sikh monuments before the partition period. These monuments are the property of the evacuee trust of Pakistan which is responsible for protection and preservation. In addition, the Sikhs Haveli is well known as the Khem Bhedi Singh. It is covered approximately four canals. There are numerous fresco paintings on the walls and the columns inside the Haveli, having secular and religious themes. The religious paintings have a portrait of Sikh gurus. Floral designs were also seen in these paintings. These paintings are refluxed to Indian art and also influenced by Pahari and Ajanta School of Arts. The purpose of this research is to document and properly conserve these murals of historical importance. The researcher has conducted a survey of the area by frequent visits to Kallar Sayedan and carefully studied paintings of Haveli and their various aspects.

Guru Nanak’s sensuous metaphysics

ABSTRACTReligion and aesthetics are demarcated as two different avenues with ‘God’ and ‘Beauty’ as their respective goals. Opposite of anesthetic, aesthetics is clearly the heightening of the senses. But religion with its focus on God dwelling in a world beyond ours mandates a negation of those very senses. Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru, overturns such an antithesis. My paper focuses on Guru Nanak’s Japji, the foremost devotional hymn in the Guru Granth Sahib, to explore the way in which aesthetics and religion merge together in the unitary experience of a sensuous metaphysics.

Engendering the female voice in Sikh devotional music: Locating equality in pedagogy and praxis

ABSTRACTThe Sikh Gurus promoted gender equality, but still women’s voices are being silenced from playing Gurbānī Kīrtan inside the Golden Temple. The reasons for their exclusion center around the sexualization of the female body, purity and pollution, appeals to tradition, and questions of musical proficiency. Today, Sikhs in India and the diaspora ask that the Sikh philosophy of equality be fully enacted in pedagogy and praxis. Through ethnographic investigation, historical analysis and critical inquiry, this paper addresses the importance of liberating the Sikh self and psyche from institutional systems of oppression to reclaim Sikh sovereignty, equality and the female voice.

The Idea of Good Governance Brought in Practice by Maharaja Ranjit Singh: An Appraisal

The emergence of Sikhism hundreds of years ago was in response to the existing socio-economic inequalities, orthodoxy and dogmatism With the fundamental principles of equality, justice, good of all and up keeping of humanitarian values, the new religion took birth amidst the pervading darkness of ritualism, fanaticism and socio-political malfunctioning that eventually victimised common man, as the then rulers failed in their foremost duty of providing good governance to their subjects. Sikh Gurus henceforth, laid the strong foundation of liberal, democratic and God-centred governance. Beginning with Guru Nanak, who travelled length and breadth to preach humane values and to liberate people from narrow prejudices to the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh who did not give a second thought before persuading his father to sacrifice his life for the righteous cause and remained calm and composed on the martyrdom of his four sons. He brought in to practice the higher standards of socio-religious and ethical values by giving good governance to his people. Human dignity, worth and rights were held in high esteem by the tenth Master and so were held by Maharaja Ranjit Singh who inspired by the teachings of the Sikh Gurus ruled for forty long years over the people but with humility and meekness. He discharged his duties which he accepted were endowed upon him by God ‘s will, he raised sword to expand his empire just like any other emperor but unlike other emperors he did not flaunt his power and authority by bringing his subjects under control and oppression. Maharaja Ranjit Singh rather proved to provide administrative efficiency in his kingdom and emerge as a God oriented, enlightened, God-fearing, truthful, righteous, ethical, compassionate, philanthropic and accountable ruler. After decades of turmoil and unrest, fear and suffering, people under the rule of Maharaja Ranjit singh lived in a blissful state, happy and contended materialistically and aesthetically. The present paper henceforth is an attempt to highlight the way in which good governance as emphasised by the ten Gurus was brought in to practice by Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Ajit Singh (1940–2015), the Radical Cambridge Economist: Anti‐imperialist Advocate of Third World Industrialization

Ajit Singh (1940–2015), the Radical Cambridge Economist: Anti‐imperialist Advocate of Third World Industrialization

Listening to female voices in Sikh kirtan

This paper examines sound recordings by female kirtaniye in an effort to redress the absence of women in historical narratives about Punjab. A sustained discussion of listening and performance practices in the Sikh tradition sheds light on the kirtan of Bibi Jaswant Kaur, Khushi Bai, Ajit Kaur, Surinder Kaur, and Tilly Bai, among others. An acousmatic approach calls attention to the expressive voices and disciplined bodies of female kirtaniye as they negotiated the changing terrain of female vocality in and outside of India. Biases against the commercial dissemination of Sikh kirtan are explored in relation to a pervasive cultural anxiety over the intervention of technology and its impact on issues of liveness as it re-configures the unity of the sangat. The myriad ways in which female kirtaniye evoke rasa in their kirtan also raise the contentious issue of whether raag is one of several techniques through which the words of the Sikh Gurus might conjoin with music.

The Wearing of Dastar in Sikhism and Its Relation With the Amrit Sanskar Ceremony

In the religion of Sikh, wearing the turban or the dastar is a religious practice that is a symbolic proof of their faith to the Sikh Guru’s teachings and their holy book. The dastar carries its own distinguished characteristics in terms of the way it is worn, its measurements and colours. It completes the Sikh dresscode or uniform, known as Panch Kekaar or the 5Ks, that is an integral part of their identity. Nevertheless, not all Sikh followers wear the dastar. This depends on individual’s willingness to undergo a baptism ritual, known as the amrit sanskar. The dastar-wearing Sikhs who have requested for amrit are called amrit-dhari; they are true Sikh followers who adhere to the teachings of their Sikh teachers. One of the objectives of this study is to provide information to the multi-racial society in Malaysia, especially the Muslim society, concerning the wearing of dastar in Sikhism and its relation with baptism. Through this information, it is hoped that a society that is tolerance and have mutual respect for each other, irrespective of race and religion, as aspired by the concept of 1Malaysia, is borne. In this study, the textual analysis method is adopted to retrieve information on the dastar and the amrit sanskar ritual. In addition, various references in relation to the Sikh religion were also made. Keywords: Dastar, Sikhism, amrit sanskar, panch kekaar

VISUAL PHENOMENOLOGY

In a symphony of colors and compositional elements, Janamsakhi illustrations record the life of the founder, Guru Nanak (1469-1539). This paper explores the set of 41 paintings from the nineteenth century in the permanent Kapany Collection at the Asian Arts Museum. My objective is to gain some sense of the reception of the Sikh Guru's images in a western cosmopolitan space. After all does the seeing-in not depend upon personal proclivities, cultural assumptions, social practices, and historical associations? ‘Through looking at paintings we can learn to step outside the mode of being that is ours and to open ourselves to modes of being that are other’ (Nigel Wentworth, The Phenomenology of Painting, 2004, 246). Indeed by opening up a uniquely Sikh spiritual and aesthetic horizon to its viewers, the Janamsakhi illustrations at the Asian Arts Museum make a meaningful contribution to pluralism. Ultimately, what is the function of their visual phenomenology in our global society? How does it promote familiarity among religions, races, and cultures? How does it impact the personal and collective identity of the Sikhs?