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Bibi Bhani ji (1535 - 1598) was born to Guru Amar Das and Mata Mansa Devi on 19 January 1535 (21 Magh 1591 Bk) at Basarke Gillan, a village some 13 kms south-west of Amritsar. She had an older sister called Bibi Dani and two brothers called Bhai Mohan and Bhai Mohri.
She was married on 18 February 1554 to Bhai Jetha (who later became Guru Ram Das), a Sodhi Khatri from Lahore. Bhai sahib later moved to Goindval which was an upcoming Sikh town and carried out voluntary service (Sewa) in the construction of the Baoli Sahib (deep walk-in well).
When Guru Amar Das had first seen Bhai Jetha, he had been very impressed with the dedication to the sangat (congregation) and the Sewa performed by him. And so observing the purity of his kind soul, a marriage was arranged between Bibi Bhani, Guru ji's daughter and the dedicated devotee, Bhai Jehta. After marriage, the couple remained in Goindval serving the Guru, doing sewa and serving the (sangat).
Later, on the near completion of the Gurdwara at Goindval, Bhai Jetha was deputed by the Guru to go and establish a habitation at present-day Amritsar. This place was also later called "Ramdasar". Here, on a piece of land gifted, according to one version, to Bibi Bhani by Emperor Akbar at the time of his visit to Guru Amar Das, Jetha ji expanded a natural pool into a Sarovar. .....More
International Turban Day is celebrated on April 13th every year. This event was started in 2004 to bring awareness of the strict requirement on Sikhs to don the turban as a mandatory part of their religion.
In the West since 9/11 in 2001, the turban, has attracted negative attention due to the wrongful linking of this garment with Osama bin Laden, the Muslim leader of al Qaeda who has often been pictured wearing a turban.
Due to the vast news and media coverage of Osama bin Laden following 9/11, many men wearing a turban and beard and Punjabi styled clothing articles (long vest or longer shirt) have been looked upon with suspicion, with some innocent people even being killed or wounded by uninformed and even deranged westerners bent on revenge, who just assumed that any bearded man, wearing a turban and beard was a Muslim.
However, this perception is wrong, as the vast majority of people in Western countries who wear turbans are actually Sikhs. Given that many thousands of Sikhs died fighting against the same sort of Muslim fundamentalist terrorists that bin Laden's group al Qaeda and the Taleban espouse today, the irony of such an uninformed assumption is tragic, especially since most Muslims living in the West do not wear turbans. .....More
- .... that Langar is a Sikh free kitchen which was started by the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak Dev Ji in the fifteenth century. It is designed to uphold the principle of equality between all people of the world regardless of their religion, caste, colour, creed, age, gender or social status. In addition to the ideals of equality, the tradition of Langar expresses the ethics of sharing, community, inclusiveness and oneness of all humankind. "..the Light of God is in all hearts", said Guru Nanak (sggs 282)
- ..... that Siropa is a term adopted from Persian sar-o-pa (head and foot) or sarapa (head to foot) meaning an honorary dress and is used in Sikh vocabulary for a garment, scarf or a length of cloth bestowed on someone as a mark of honour.
Once there was no rain in a particular area for an extended period resulting danger to the crops. In some areas, the crops had already been destroyed.
So the local people of that area decided to do Ardas - a prayer or supplication to God so that their crops may be saved. Many hundreds of people gathered together at the designated place for this Ardas.
While this gathering was in progress, a passing Sikh Saint stopped by. He asked one of the crowd why there was such a big crowd gathered and what was the purpose of the gathering. One of them told the Sikh Saint that that they had gathered here to do Ardas because the crops will be destroyed in the absence of rain; they were going to ask God for rain.
The Saint said that was a good thing that they were doing an ardas but he did not see anyone carrying an umbrellas or "barsatie" (rain coats)…. When Waheguru (God) accepted your Ardas then there will be lot of rain. One group leader laughingly said, "But we do not know whether it will rain or not."
The Saint said, "How will your Ardas be accepted when you do not have faith in Waheguru" . He told them all to go home .
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 Volvo pv544 used by Joginder Singh & brother Jaswant Singh in the 1965 East African Safari Rally.
See en.wikipedia.org |
Sikh Taxi driver's story on 9 News
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Watch this video (1.60 mins) on YouTube of the a Sikh cabbie in Australia who has set an example of honesty after he returned 110,000 Australian dollars to passengers who had left the bundle of cash in his taxi. The incident happened in Melbourne recently (October 2013) when the cab driver Lakhwinder Singh Dhillon was doing his routine job of picking and dropping passenger .....Watch, listen, read & ponder...
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| Interesting articles
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The links below are to articles that have a Sikhi message presented in a new and interesting way. Please spent a few minutes reading some of these articles:
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Sikhi on Youtube!
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On the 28th March 2012, a new YouTube channel was launched for the global Sikh community. Basics of Sikhi has released more than 40 videos focusing on spreading the wisdom of the Sikh Gurus. The main philosophy of the channel is to simply teach the basics wisdom of Guru in a way that avoids..... → read more
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Sikhi Helpline: If you have any queries or you have any problems or you require help with any issues relating to Sikhi principles or a more deeper understanding of Sikh values or any other matter connected with this faith, we are happy to help you with any issues that concern you in this respect - just click here.
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