 A page from the handwritten Guru Granth Sahib located on the first floor of Sri Harimandir Sahib, Amritsar.
The Guru Granth Sahib begins with the word "Ek Onkar" – The All Pervading Being. From this Word to the tenth Word “Gur-parshad” is called the Mool Mantra. After this is the rest of the composition called the Japji composed by Guru Nanak Dev. This comprises 38 Pauris or stanzas, a Prologue and an Epilogue. This is one of the morning prayer of the Sikhs.
The next composition has two parts - (1) "So Dar" and (2) "So Purkh". The Bani, "So Dar" contains 5 Shabads and "So Purkh" contains 4 Shabads. This form most of the evening prayer of the Sikhs and is called the Rehras. After this is the Bani called Sohila (full name, Kirtan Sohila), which contains 5 Shabads and is the bed-time prayer.
Within it's 1430 pages, most of the Shabads (hymns) of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib are arranged in thirty-one Ragas, the traditional Indian musical measures and scales. Within the Ragas, they are arranged by order of the Sikh Gurus, with the shabads of the Hindu and Muslim saints. The shabads are written in various meters and rhythms, and are organized accordingly. For instance, Ashtapadi - eight steps, or Panch-padi - five steps. The Sri Guru Granth Sahib is written in Gurmukhi script, but the shabads were written in many different languages including Punjabi, Sanskrit and Persian. ....Continued.
 The 36th Sikhs is notable for the action that occurred in 1897 when the regiment defended the Samana Ridge against a huge army of Pathans. On September 12, the Sikhs worldwide will remember with honor the supreme sacrifice of their brave comrades who for the security and safeguard of their country willingly laid down their lives. The bravery of these soldiers was inspired by the heart piercing message of their tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh.
O God, give me these boons
that never shall I shirk from doing good deeds
that never shall I fear when I go into battle
And that with surety I shall attain victory.
by Sri Guru Gobind Singh - the motto of the Sikh Regiment
.....More
- .....that at Gurdwara San Sahib situated in the village of Basarke in Amritsar District, Punjab, India, Baba Buddha made a hole in the wall so as not to go against the Guru's note on the door that said, "He who opens this door is no Sikh of mine, nor am I his Guru."
- ..... that the Sikh concept of Sarbaht dah Phahla which means "Blessings for Everyone" or literally "May everyone Prosper" is a new concept for many people and is not common knowledge for many followers of the Sikh religion.
- .....that Guru Ram Das ji was born at Chuna Mandi Bazaar, Lahore on 24th September 1534 and spent the first seven years of his life here and that his name before obtaining Guruship was Bhai Jetha which means the first born.
- .... that Alahunian is the name given to the Bani by Guru Nanak. It is a composition in measure Vadahans in the Guru Granth Sahib on page Page 578 and refers to a dirge (funeral song) wailingly sung in chorus by women mourning the death of a close relation. Etymologically, the word means an "utterance in praise of a departed person".
When the Mughal forces laid siege around Anandpur Sahib, many Singhs deserted the Guru, including the 40 Singhs who later became the 40 Muktas. Guru Gobind Singh Jee asked Bibi Basant Kaur if she wanted to leave the fort, as there would be terrible hardships in the coming months. However Bibi Jee politely declined, saying that she would not leave her Guru whatever the circumstances.
After some months of real difficulties and hunger, Guru Gobind Singh Jee decided to leave Anandpur Sahib at the request of his Sikhs. Evading the Mughal forces, the Guru and his Sikhs reached the River Sirsa. It was the winter months, and due to the cold weather and fast flowing river current, the Sikhs got scattered. Guru Gobind Singh Jee, Sahibzada Ajit Singh and Sahibzada Jujhar Singh got separated from Mata Gujjer Kaur (Mata Gujri), Sahibzada Zorawar Singh and Sahibzada Fateh Singh. ....More
Bhai Santokh Singh, (8 October 1787 - 19 October 1843) the noted author of six important literary works - Naam Kosh, Guru Nanak Parkash, Garb Ganjni Teeka (teeka means translation and explanation of a work), Balmik Ramayan, Atam Purayan Teeka and his magnum opus, Sri Gur Partap Suraj Granth aka Suraj Parkash, was born on 8 October 1787. He was the son of Bhai Deva Singh and Mata Rajadi, professional cloth printers of Nurdin village, also known as Sarai Nurdin, 7 km northwest of Tarn Taran in Amritsar district of the Punjab, India.
His father, though poor, was educated and well versed in the sacred texts. He sent his son, after preliminary education at home, to Amritsar where he became a pupil of Giani Sant Singh (1768 - 1832), a renowned man of letters and custodian of Sri Darbar Sahib. After having studied Sikh Scripture and history, Sanskrit language and literature, poetics, philosophy and mythology at Amritsar for about 15 years, Santokh Singh moved to Buna, an old town on the right bank of the Yamuna in the present Yamuna Nagar district of Haryana, some time before 1813. .....More
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Khalistan - The World not the Nation
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| Khalistan is inevitable. It is our destined future. But the people we hear screaming today for Khalistan will not be the ones to create it. Khalistan is going to be created by the true Khalsa, the ones that follow the teachings of all 11 Sikh Gurus and who are truly pure of heart...... → read more
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The open temple of Makindu
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| In the dusty plains of Makindu, a rural outpost along Nairobi-Mombasa highway, stands a landmark that has shaped the history of an otherwise forlorn and obscure settlement. Located about 170km from Nairobi, Makindu Sikh Temple is a conflation of historical and religious events that date back 100 years..... → read more
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Beware of an Anthropomorphic God!
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| One of the many traps that language holds for us humans is the knee-jerk tendency to anthropomorphize - ascribe human-like qualities - to things and concepts which are neither human nor human-like. Thus, we talk about "Our nation wants our sacrifice!" - "We need to defend our flag!"..... → read more
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The Noble Sewadar of Peshawar
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| Khurshid Khan, an eminent 60-year-old lawyer and deputy attorney general of Pakistan, wants to "heal the wounds" of the terror-stricken minority Sikh community in that country. So he does an extraordinary thing at a temple in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Every day, once he's handled his work as a legal expert..... → read more
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Hope & Compassion
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| Couldn’t wait to see the back of 2009 what a heart wrenching year and only the forces above knew what I had to endure on this journey. To say there was nothing to write about would be totally dishonest but I had no zest to write about the things I didn’t love. I had many people asking why I stopped blogging … but no one could understand!..... → read more
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Are cell phones killing off bees?
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| To their controlled surprise, three months of observation led them to conclude that the hive experienced a significant reduction in its population. The queen bee laid fewer than half the number of eggs and neither honey nor pollen was anywhere to be found...... → read more
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