The emergence of Sikhism is more than five hundred years ago in Punjab. It was the time of Mughal Empire over India where the emergence of Sikhism began.
Currently, there are around 30 million Sikhs in the worldwide, where majority of them live in Punjab, India. It was established by Guru Nanak who was a non practicing Hindu. He taught the teachings that all the religions are good and spread the message of love.
The Sikhs believe in three Golden rules which they follow, first to remember God constantly, second to earn an honest livelihood and third is to share their earnings with everyone through charity. The commitment is shown by Sikhs to their faith by adopting a way of life which required them to wear the Five K's.
These five K’s have significance in Sikhism as they are considered articles of faith as well as a Sikh they are supposed to carry them at all the times.
The importance of 5 Ks:
- Firstly, Kesh which means unshorn hair symbolizing the spiritual commitment,
- Secondly, Kanga means small wooden comb which is the sign of cleanliness,
- Thirdly, Kara means round steel or iron bracelet which again shows the commitment to God,
- Fourthly, Kachera means special shorts which is commitment to moral behavior and chastity,
- Lastly, Kirpan means small sword which has a symbolic of one's commitment to justice for all.
Sikhs official says that, Sikhism is a monotheistic religion which believes in services and equality to others. In the world, it is the fifth most popular religion. The word Sikh means learner, where the guru teaches and Sikh learns. The Sikhs follows the learning from their 10 succeeded gurus who also shaped the Sikhism.
The writing in Guru Granth Sahib is also known as Gurbani which means words of the Guru. It is basically collection of wisdom of the Sikh gurus as well as many enlightened Sikh and non Sikh philosophy conformed to the spirit of sick thought.
Beside praises of God the Gurbani also lays out a system upon which the Sikh society is based on and from which each Sikh can seek guidance. It is one primary scripture for the Sikhs.
Guruship in Sikhism:
Guru ship was passed on to the next human Guru only after receiving the Sikh guru had concluded that succeeding guru was fully prepared to lead and also had become spiritually enlightened.
Growth of Sikhism begins when the Guru ship was passed to other human Guru. The religious movement started by Guru Nanak was continued by Guru Angad. Guru Angad is widely credited for standardizing the Gurumukhi script which is one of the sacred scriptures of the Sikhs.
In the year 1552 Guru Amar Das became the third Sikh guru. After him his son-in-law became the next guru who was known as Guru Ram Das. He established does city known as Ramdaspur but today it is known as Amritsar which is sacred to the Sikhs.
Guru Ram Das succeeded on his death by Guru Arjan. He created the compilation called as Adi Granth which had these sayings and the hymns of the previous gurus including his owns.
He built the Harmandir Sahib which later to be known as Golden Temple situated in Amritsar. It has world largest free kitchen and also largest place for langar. He is also known as first martyr.
Due to the intolerance of Mughal Emperor Jahangir that this religious movement is growing he pressurized Guru Arjun to convert into Islam but he refused. After which he was imprisoned there after his death. Guru Hargobind was appointed as the Guru of this Sikhs.
He is known for establishing military tradition in Sikhism because of which he could be also called as warrior saint. He was also popular for wearing two swords. Guru Har Rai became the next Guru, after his death he's young son Guru Har Krishan was the guru but who died due to smallpox.
Guru Teg Bahadur was the guru of Sikhs where he continued the tradition warrior saint especially in the period of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb Empire. He was recognized as the second martyr who was killed by Aurangzeb. The last human Guru was Guru Gobind Singh.
Being a warrior saint he introduced the movement of Khalsa. A man who goes under the Khalsa ceremony adopts the title of Singh means lion and woman adopts the title of Kaur means princess. He completed the compilation of Guru Granth Sahib.
He declared that Guru Granth Sahib is the 11th and final guru. Sikhs today view Guru Granth Sahib as the final guru. In Gurdwara you will see Guru Granth Sahib as their guru.
More about Guru Nanak:
Sikh faith started In Talwandi, in the year 1469, when Guru Nanak ji was born. It was a place in the state of Punjab renamed as Nankana Sahib but presently located in Pakistan.
He was born in a Hindu class merchant’s family. After the age of 30 years Sikhism was more organized because at that time Guru Nanak experienced been one with God.
After which he declared that his life Mission was to spread God's name and message of love. His poetry in Guru Gobind Sahib describes the awareness of being one supreme reality that is ik-onkar behind this beautiful world.
Guru Nanak Sahib's shabads (poetry) valued the need for integrity instead outward display of being religious, additionally the importance of being aware of God's name and giving to others.His shabads are rich in farming and commerce which has animals, birds and human being.
He started gathering the Sikh (discipline) community in Kartarpur. He is respected as 'Nanak Baba' by the Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus and Muslims. Guru Nanak birthday is celebrated on the day of full moon in many lithographs and manuscripts much based on his life are found in British library.
His significance can be found not only through his inspirational teachings but also through the practical basis which he provided for a new religion movement.
Festivals and Events:
Many festivals are celebrated among Sikhs where in the Guru Amar Das asked the Sikhs to assemble together and share the festival as community. Baisakhi is one of the significant festivals of Sikhs, it basically occurs on 13 or 14 April which includes Nagar Kirtan and Parades.
It is the festival when they got their identity as well as it is the beginning of harvest season. Band chor diwas is again one of the important festivals in the history of Sikhism.
Sikhs celebrate this day because Guru Hargobind was released from the Gwalior fort with several other kings who were imprisoned by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir in 1619. From this day it has continued to be celebrated on the same day where Hindu celebrates Diwali festival.
Guru Gobind Singh started tradition of Hola Mohalla after the Sikhs celebrate Holi. It was modified by him with a extension festival of three days of martial arts.Thus extension was started in Anandpur Sahib after 5he festival of Holi where sikh soldiers were trained.
Gurpurbs are the celebration based on the lives of the Sikh Guru's. Basically this tends to be either the Guru's birthday or the Sikhs martyrdoms. The martyrdoms anniversary of Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur is known as Shaheedi Gurpurab.
Mostly all ten Guru's have gurpurbs but Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh gurpurbs are celebrated the most. Sikh Marriages are performed in Gurdwara in front of Guru Granth Sahib.
The fourth Guru, Guru Ram Das the tradition of circling the Guru Granth Sahib as well as Anand Katraj among the Khalsa ia also practiced.Jence, this ritual of marriage ceremony is known as Anand Karaj ceremony.
During the funeral ceremony ardas prayers and kirtan sohila are performed.After death; the body of a Sikh is usually incrementation. In case, if this cannot be possible then any respectful means of disposing the body of a Sikh may be employed.
Some Interesting Facts about Sikhism:
- In the year 1890 in America Sikh came first and developed the railways.
- Sikhism is a separate religion from Hinduism and Islam as well as fifth largest religion of the world religions.
- More than 95% of people with head covering known as Turban are Sikh.
- The world's oldest marathon runner, 104 years old Sikh named Fauji Singh.
- Sikhism is one of the youngest world religions and it was founded 500 years ago by Guru Nanak.
- The first Asian American to be elected US Congress was a Sikh.
- Sikh officers have received exemption to keep Turban and beard from the US army.
Edited by: Gourav Chowdhury
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