Welcome to SikhiWiki,

• Old Featured Articles
• Listen to Kirtan
• 1000's of Sikh Names
• Online Tutorials!

• Biographical
• Gurdwaras
• History
• Websites

• Sikhi Terms
• Scriptures
• Media
• Practices

• Places
• Sakhis
• Beliefs
• News

Introduction · Searching · Editing · Questions

A–Z Categories · Featured content · A–Z index · Help

Jallianwala massacre in 1919 in Amritsar, India

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, involved the killing of hundreds of unarmed, defenceless Indians by a senior British military officer. The incident took place on 13 April 1919 in the heart of Amritsar, the holiest city of the Sikhs, on a day sacred to them called Vaisakhi - the birth anniversary of the Khalsa.

Jallianvala Bagh, a garden belonging to the Jalla, derives its name from the owners of this piece of land in olden times. At the time of this incident, this land belonged to the family of Sardar Himmat Singh Jallevalia (d.1829), a noble in the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839), who originally came from the village of Jalla, now in Fatehgarh Sahib district of the Punjab.

The family were collectively known as Jallhevale or simply Jallhe or Jalle, although their principal seat later became Alavarpur in Jallandhar district. The site, once a garden or garden house, was in 1919 an uneven and unoccupied space, an irregular quadrangle, indifferently walled, approximately 225 x 180 metres which was used more as a dumping ground rather than a garden.

In the Punjab, during World War I (1914-18), there was considerable unrest particularly among the Sikhs, first on account of the demolition of a boundary wall of Gurdwara Rakab Ganj at New Delhi and later because of the activities and trials of the Ghadrites almost all of whom were Sikhs. .....More

Sikhism and the Environment

Guru Har Rai developed Kiratpur Sahib as a town of parks and gardens

"The Lord infused His Light into the dust, and created the world, the universe. The sky, the earth, the trees, and the water - all are the Creation of the Lord. ||1||" SGGS page 723

The Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, declares that the purpose of human beings is to achieve a blissful state and to be in harmony with the earth and all of God's creation. It seems, however, that humans have drifted away from that ideal. For the earth is today saturated with problems. It is agonizing over the fate of its inhabitants and their future! It is in peril as never before. Its lakes and rivers are being choked, killing its marine life. Its forests are being denuded. A smoky haze envelops the cities of the world. Human beings are exploiting their fellow human beings.

The Sikh Gurus showed the world the way to live in harmony with the environment and all their communities were developed in adherence to this principle. Guru Har Rai, the seventh Sikh Guru developed Kiratpur Sahib as a town of parks and gardens. " ....Continued.

Picture Feature:

Sikh Symbols

Section for Young Sikhs:

Duni Chand talking to Guru Nanak

Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana continued to travel to many different parts of the world. One day, they arrived at a beautiful location near Lahore, which is a historic city in present-day Pakistan.

The Guru decided to setup their camp outside the city. He sat on a green, grassy spot near the river Ravi. Sitting at this tranquil spot, the Guru fixed his thoughts on God and meditated for a little while.

Bhai Mardana began singing the Guru’s sacred songs or hymns called Shabads. At times, the Guru himself would join in and begin to sing Kirtan as well.

Soon, people who heard these simple but very heart rendering melodies began to gather around the Guru and Bhai Mardana. Folks everywhere loved to hear these sacred songs. They also liked to hear the Guru’s talks about life and the importance of meditation or Simran.

One day, during such a melodious recitals, a rich man of Lahore came to the Guru. He asked the Guru to go with him to his house.

The Guru said, "I am all right here. I am not really fond of grand houses. Moreover, my visit to your house might cause you inconvenience and unnecessary trouble." .....More

Important Links:

Learning Gurmukhi/Punjabi

• Listen & Learn Gurmukhi Letters (Pain'tee)
• Click, Listen and Speak each letter
• Link to the Learning Index
• Full Punjabi Learning Course
• Animated Stories in Punjabi
• Click & Listen: Numbers in Punjabi
• Guru Granth Sahib with English translation pdf file
• Blog: Project: Gurmukhi

The Guru's Message...

Guru Arjan Dev

Through Love you will find God:- The Guru guides us thus: "In the Fear of God, is the Love of God. Only those few who understand His Love obtain the sublime essence of the Lord, O Siblings of Destiny. As many hearts as there are - in all of them, is His Ambrosial Nectar; as He pleases, He causes them to drink it in.(2) There are nine gates to the one city of the body; restrain your mind from escaping through them. When the knot of the three qualities is untied, then the Tenth Gate opens up, and the mind is intoxicated, O Siblings of Destiny.(3)" (page 1123)

Structure of Guru Granth Sahib

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. ....Continued.

Mool Mantar | Japji | Sikhism | Dasam Granth | Kirtan | Beliefs | Bani | Gurus | SGGS | Bhai Manjh | Vegetarianism | Bhagat Sain | Bhagat Dhanna | Today | Blogs