Sikh Pilgrimage to Pakistan
Sikh Pilgrimage to Pakistan - Illustrated Guide
- Authors: By Anup Singh Choudry and Hardip Singh Chowdhary
- Published by Gurbani Centre UK 1985
- Printed in Great Britain by Jarrold and Sons Ltd Norwich
This a short book and is a must for any Sikh or non Sikh visiting Sikh shrines in Pakistan. Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh Religion was born on the outskirts of Lahore and the book contains illustrations of various places in Pakistan connected to the Guru from his birth to death. The events of the first Guru are now represented by sacred Gurdwaras which are pictured in this book. These holy places or Gurdwaras serve to educate us and remind us about the life of Guru Nanak, his teachings and message of love, compassion, kindness, mercy and forgiveness.
Preface
Pilgrimage is not uncommon to most major religions of the world. The Sikhs, in their thousands, visit Pakistan each year to celebrate the birth anniversary of their founder, Guru Nanak, at Nankana Sahib, his birthplace. This illustrated guide introduces most of the Sikh shrines in Pakistan connected with the founding Guru. It is hoped that it will serve as an effective guide to assist and encourage prospective pilgrims to visit these shrines.
For non-Sikhs and students of comparative religions, we hope the guide will provide readily available information as an introduction to the Sikh faith and its philosophy. But above all, it will provide to everyone, Guru Nanak’s universal message of love, peace and brotherhood, and the emphasis on the worship of one God.
The chapter on the Sikh Raj gives some background to the Sikhs’ history and their present political status. Some of the recent events have been cited in passing in one or two places where they have been of historical importance and significance in the context of references made in the text.
Authors
H. S. Chowdhary, A. S. Choudry, Authors London, September 1985
These Sites and Religious Freedom, a reader's thoughts
That all of these sacred Gurdwaras are in good shape and that Sikhs, in large numbers, can visit or practise their religion in these Gurdwaras is in thanks to the respect of the people and the moderate goverments which have ruled Pakistan since the country, originally envisioned by M. A. Jinnah as a secular state where all sects of Islam, as well as other religions could worship (as the Qur'an states) each in his own way. His goal in doing this matched Guru Nanak's saying - One God, many paths.
Today, as in the days of Ranjit Singh, Banda Bahadur and Hari Singh Nalwa, the wild fundamentalist men of the mountains, now calling themselves Taliban and al-Qaeda, are attempting to retake the Panjab. Last week they attempted to destroy a historic Buddhist image by blowing up a rock in the Kyber pass area. Since the Laal Mosqjid cleanout hundreds of Pakistani troops have been kidnapped, with several being beheaded. Walking shadows of Aurangzeb's, Farrukhsiyar's and Wazir Khan's brand of fanaticism are on the attack. There is even an American by the name of Adam (Adam Gadan) who seeing himself as the Madi or Messiah has infilitrated al-Qaeda (becoming their spokesman) and has styled himself as the 'Americanized' Adam Durrani - savior of Afganistan in the novel 'Kara Kush'.
So enjoy the part of the Historic Sikh Punjab in Pakistan and support the government of Pakistan in their fight against fanaticism in what ever way you can. Oh! for another Ranjit Singh.
