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
M. A. Jinnah's original vision for Pakistan as a country where all sects of Islam, as well as other religions could freely worship paralleled Guru Nanak's saying - "One God, many paths". As the Qur'an states [sura 109:6] "To you is your religion, and to me is my religion"; or each in his own way. That all of these sacred Gurdwaras are in good shape and that Sikhs, in large numbers, can visit or practice their religion in these Gurdwaras is thanks to the respect of the moderate governments and people of Pakistan.
Today, as in the days of Ranjit Singh, Banda Bahadur and Hari Singh Nalwa, the wild fundamentalist men of the mountains are attempting to retake the Panjab. Walking shadows of Aurangzeb's, Farrukhsiyar's and Wazir Khan's brand of fanaticism are now on the attack. Now calling themselves Taliban and al-Qaeda, they attempted on September 11, 2007 to destroy a historic Buddhist engraving visited by thousands of tourists each year by blowing up a rock in northwest Pakistan. (http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22402390-5012747,00.html)
There is even an American by the name of Adam (Adam Gadan) who, seeing himself as the Madi or Messiah of Islam, has infiltrated al-Qaeda (becoming their spokesman) and has styled himself as the 'Americanized' Adam Durrani - savior of Afganistan in the novel 'Kara Kush'. Since the Laal Mosqjid incident, hundreds of Pakistani troops have been kidnapped, with several being beheaded.
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.
