1.
Somerville, Massachusetts
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Somerville is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of 2010, the United States Census has the city with a population of 75,754 people. As of 2010, it was the 16th most densely populated incorporated municipality in the country, Somerville was established as a town in 1842, when it was separated from Charlestown. In 2006, the town was named the city in Massachusetts by the Boston Globe. In 1972, in 2009, and again in 2015, the city received the All-America City Award, the territory now comprising the city of Somerville was first settled in 1629 as part of Charlestown. In 1629, English surveyor Thomas Graves led a party of 100 Puritans from the settlement of Salem to prepare the site for the Great Migration of Puritans from England. Graves was attracted to the narrow Mishawum Peninsula between the Charles River and the Mystic River, linked to the mainland at the present-day Sullivan Square. The first European settler in Somerville of whom there is any record was John Woolrich, an Indian trader who came from the Charlestown Peninsula in 1630, others soon followed Woolrich, locating in the vicinity of present-day Union Square. The population continued to increase, and by 1775 there were about 500 inhabitants scattered across the area. Otherwise, the area was used as grazing and farmland. It was once known as the Stinted Pasture or Cow Commons, John Winthrop, the first colonial governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was granted 600 acres of land in the area in 1631. Named for the ten small knolls located on the property, Ten Hills Farm extended from the Craddock Bridge in present-day Medford Center to Convent Hill in East Somerville, Winthrop lived, planted, and raised cattle on the farm. It is also where he launched the first ship in Massachusetts, built for trading purposes in the early 1630s, it was soon armed for use as a patrol boat for the New England coast. It is seen as a precursor to the United States Navy, the neighborhood Ten Hills, located in the northeastern part of the city, has retained the name for over 300 years. New research has found less than a decade after John Winthrop moved to the farm in 1631. Each successive owner of Ten Hills Farm would depend upon slaverys profits until the 1780s, in a short time, the settlers began laying out roads in all directions in search of more land for planting and trade with various Native American tribes in the area. Laid out as early as the mid-1630s, the earliest highway in Somerville was probably what is now Washington Street, in its earliest days, Washington Street was known as the Road to Newtowne. Laid out in 1636, Broadway was likely the second built in the area
Somerville, Massachusetts
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Davis Square, Somerville
Somerville, Massachusetts
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A 2007 photograph of the Old Powder House in Nathan Tufts Park, Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville, Massachusetts
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Seven Hills Park at Davis Square. The towers in the park each represent one of the city's original hills.
Somerville, Massachusetts
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View of Somerville City Hall
2.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
California
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A forest of redwood trees in
Redwood National Park
California
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Flag
California
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Mount Shasta
California
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Aerial view of the
California Central Valley
3.
New York (state)
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New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
New York (state)
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British general
John Burgoyne surrenders at
Saratoga in 1777.
New York (state)
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Flag
New York (state)
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1800 map of New York from
Low's Encyclopaedia
New York (state)
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The
Erie Canal at
Lockport, New York in 1839
4.
New Jersey
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New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania, New Jersey is the fourth-smallest state but the 11th-most populous and the most densely populated of the 50 United States. New Jersey lies entirely within the statistical areas of New York City. New Jersey was inhabited by Native Americans for more than 2,800 years, in the early 17th century, the Dutch and the Swedes made the first European settlements. New Jersey was the site of decisive battles during the American Revolutionary War in the 18th century. In the 19th century, factories in cities such as Camden, Paterson, Newark, Trenton, around 180 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period, New Jersey bordered North Africa. The pressure of the collision between North America and Africa gave rise to the Appalachian Mountains, around 18,000 years ago, the Ice Age resulted in glaciers that reached New Jersey. As the glaciers retreated, they left behind Lake Passaic, as well as rivers, swamps. New Jersey was originally settled by Native Americans, with the Lenni-Lenape being dominant at the time of contact, scheyichbi is the Lenape name for the land that is now New Jersey. The Lenape society was divided into clans that were based upon common female ancestors. These clans were organized into three distinct phratries identified by their animal sign, Turtle, Turkey, and Wolf and they first encountered the Dutch in the early 17th century, and their primary relationship with the Europeans was through fur trade. The Dutch became the first Europeans to lay claim to lands in New Jersey, the Dutch colony of New Netherland consisted of parts of modern Middle Atlantic states. Although the European principle of ownership was not recognized by the Lenape. The first to do so was Michiel Pauw who established a patronship called Pavonia in 1630 along the North River which eventually became the Bergen, peter Minuits purchase of lands along the Delaware River established the colony of New Sweden. During the English Civil War, the Channel Island of Jersey remained loyal to the British Crown and it was from the Royal Square in St. Helier that Charles II of England was proclaimed King in 1649, following the execution of his father, Charles I. The North American lands were divided by Charles II, who gave his brother, the Duke of York, the region between New England and Maryland as a proprietary colony. James then granted the land between the Hudson River and the Delaware River to two friends who had remained loyal through the English Civil War, Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton, the area was named the Province of New Jersey. Since the states inception, New Jersey has been characterized by ethnic, New England Congregationalists settled alongside Scots Presbyterians and Dutch Reformed migrants
New Jersey
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The New Jersey Botanical Garden at Skylands in
Ringwood State Park,
Passaic and
Bergen Counties
New Jersey
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Flag
New Jersey
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Washington Crossing the Delaware during the
New York and New Jersey campaign, winter 1777
New Jersey
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George Washington rallying his troops at the
Battle of Princeton
5.
Punjabi language
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Punjabi /pʌnˈdʒɑːbi/ is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by over 100 million native speakers worldwide, making it the 10th most widely spoken language in the world. It is the language of the Punjabi people who inhabit the historical Punjab region of India. Among the Indo-European languages it is unusual in being a tonal language, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan, the 11th most widely spoken in India and the third-most spoken native language in the Indian Subcontinent. Punjabi is the fourth-most spoken language in the United Kingdom and third-most spoken native language in Canada, the language also has a significant presence in the United Arab Emirates, United States, Saudi Arabia, and Australia. The Punjabi language is written in the Shahmukhi and Gurmukhi scripts, the word Punjabi is derived from the word Panj-āb, Persian for Five Waters, referring to the five major eastern tributaries of the Indus River. Panj is cognate with Sanskrit pañca and Greek πέντε five, the historical Punjab region, now divided between India and Pakistan, is defined physiographically by the Indus River and these five tributaries. One of the five, the Beas River, is a tributary of another, Punjabi developed from Sanskrit through Prakrit language and later Apabhraṃśa From 600 BC Sanskrit gave birth to many regional languages in different parts of India. These all languages are called Prakrit language collectively, Shauraseni Prakrit was one of these Prakrit languages, which was spoken in north and north-western India and Punjabi and western dialects of Hindi developed from this Prakrit. Later in northern India Shauraseni Prakrit gave rise to Shauraseni Aparbhsha, Punjabi emerged as an Apabhramsha, a degenerated form of Prakrit, in the 7th century A. D. and became stable by the 10th century. By the 10th century, many Nath poets were associated with earlier Punjabi works, Arabic and Persian influence in the historical Punjab region began with the late first millennium Muslim conquests on the Indian subcontinent. The Persian language was introduced in the subcontinent a few centuries later by various Persianized Central Asian Turkic, many Persian and Arabic words were incorporated in Punjabi. Punjabi has more Persian and Arabic vocabulary than Bengali, Marathi, later, it was influenced by Portuguese and English, though these influences have been minor in comparison to Persian and Arabic. However, in India English words in the language are more widespread than Hindi. Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan, the seventh-most widely spoken in India, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan. Punjabi is the language in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. Punjabi is spoken as a language by over 44. 15% of Pakistanis. About 70. 0% of the people of Pakistan speak Punjabi as either their first or second language, Lahore, the capital of the Punjab Province of Pakistan, is the largest Punjabi-speaking city in the world. 86% of the population of Lahore is native Punjabi and Islamabad
Punjabi language
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Varan Gyan Ratnavali by 16th century historian
Bhai Gurdas
Punjabi language
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Gurmukhi alphabetic excluding vowels.
Punjabi language
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Administrative divisions of Punjab Pakistan
Punjabi language
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Southall Station (United Kingdom) sign in Punjabi, in the Gurmukhī script
6.
Sikhism
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Sikhism, or Sikhi, is a panentheistic religion that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent during the 15th century. It is one of the youngest of the world religions. Sikhism has 25-28 million adherents worldwide and is the ninth-largest religion in the world, Sikhism is based on the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak, the first Guru, and the ten successive Sikh gurus. Guru Nanak established Kartarpur around 1520 and gathered the original core of the Sikh Panth there, an Indian religion, Sikhism rejects claims that any particular religious tradition has a monopoly on Absolute Truth. Sikhism emphasizes simran, that can be expressed musically through kirtan or internally through Nam Japo as a means to feel Gods presence, hand in hand, secular life is considered to be intertwined with the spiritual life. He also established the system of the langar, or communal kitchen, Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh Guru, established the political/temporal and spiritual realms to be mutually coexistent. The development of Sikhism was influenced by the Bhakti movement, however, Sikhism developed while the region was being ruled by the Mughal Empire. Two of the Sikh gurus – Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur, the Islamic era persecution of Sikhs triggered the founding of the Khalsa, as an order for freedom of conscience and religion. A Sikh is expected to embody the qualities of a Sant-Sipāhī – a saint-soldier, the majority of Sikh scriptures were originally written in Gurmukhī alphabet, a script standardised by Guru Angad out of Laṇḍā scripts used in North India. Adherents of Sikhism are known as Sikhs, which means students or disciples of the Guru, the anglicized word Sikhism is derived from the Punjabi verb Sikhi, with roots in Sikhana, and Sikhi connotes the temporal path of learning. Sikhism is a religion and states that there is one supreme entity holding control of the entire universe. This entity is referred to as Ik Onkar, the basis of Sikhism lies in the teachings of Guru Nanak and his successors. The essence of Sikh teaching is summated by Guru Nanaks words, Sikh teaching emphasizes the principle of equality of all humans and rejects discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, and gender. Sikh principles encourage living life as a householder, Sikhism is a monistic form of monotheistic religion. In Sikhism, the concept of God is Vāhigurū—is shapeless, timeless, and invisible, niraṅkār, akaal, the beginning of the first composition of Sikh scripture is the figure 1—signifying the universality of God. It states that God is omnipresent and infinite with power over everything, Sikhs believe that before creation, all that existed was God and Gods hukam. God in Sikhism is known as Ik Onkar, the One Supreme Reality or the all-pervading spirit and this spirit has no gender in Sikhism, though translations may present it as masculine. It is also Akaal Purkh and Nirankar, in addition, Nanak wrote that there are many worlds on which it has created life
Sikhism
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Guru Nanak was the founder of the religion of Sikhism and the first of the eleven Sikh Gurus, the eleventh being the living Guru, Guru Granth Sahib
Sikhism
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The
Harimandir Sahib, known popularly as the Golden Temple, is a sacred shrine for Sikhs.
Sikhism
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A Sikh man at
Harmandir Sahib, also called the Golden Temple
Sikhism
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A rare
Tanjore -style painting from the late 19th century depicting the ten Sikh Gurus with
Bhai Bala and
Bhai Mardana.
7.
Sikh gurus
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The Sikh gurus the strong and powerful established Sikhism, which started as a minor religion, but developed into a prominent religion over the centuries. No guru comes to start a religion, but religions are formed around the teachings, as is the case since the Sikh gurus appeared, Guru Nanak was the first of the recognized Sikh gurus. There were ten recognized living gurus in the Nanak line, modern Sikhism believes the Adi Granth or Granth Sahib, the writings of the gurus, to now be the guru. This belief has been integrated alongside the writings of Sikh gurus, modern Sikhism says that the Tenth Guru Guru Gobind Singh bestowed the guruship forever to the Guru Granth Sahib. Akhara History of Sikhism Khalsa Panth Udasi sikhs. org sikh-history. com srigurugranthsahib. org
Sikh gurus
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Guru Nanak with the Other Nine Gurus, Bhai Puran Singh
Sikh gurus
8.
Guru Angad
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Guru Angad was the second of the ten Sikh Gurus. He was born in a Hindu family, with the name as Lehna. Bhai Lehna grew up in a Khatri family, his father was a small scale trader, he worked as a pujari. He met Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, and became a Sikh and he served and worked with Guru Nanak for many years. Guru Nanak gave Bhai Lehna the name Angad, chose Angad as the second Sikh Guru instead of his own sons, after the death of Guru Nanak in 1539, Guru Angad led the Sikh tradition. He is remembered in Sikhism for adopting and formalizing the Gurmukhi alphabet from pre-existing Indo-European scripts such as the Tankre of the Himalayan region and he began the process of collecting the hymns of Nanak, contributed 62 or 63 hymns of his own. Instead of his own son, he chose a Vaishnava Hindu Amar Das as his successor, Guru Angad was born in a village, with birth name of Lehna, to Hindu parents living in northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent called the Punjab region. He was the son of a small but successful trader named Pheru Mal and his mothers name was Mata Ramo. Like all the Sikh Gurus, Lehna came from Khatri caste, at age 16, Angad married a Khatri girl named Mata Khivi in January 1520. They had two sons and one or two daughters, depending on the primary sources, the entire family of his father had left their ancestral village in fear of the invasion of Babars armies. After this the family settled at Khadur Sahib, a village by the River Beas near what is now Tarn Taran, before becoming a Sikh and his renaming as Angad, Lehna was a religious teacher and priest who performed services focussed on Durga. Bhai Lehna in his late 20s sought out Guru Nanak, became his disciple, several stories in the Sikh tradition describe reasons why Bhai Lehna was chosen by Guru Nanak over his own sons as his successor. One of these stories is about a jug which fell into mud, Guru Nanaks sons would not pick it up because it was dirty or menial a task. Then he asked Bhai Lehna, who picked it out of the mud, washed it clean. Guru Nanak touched him and renamed him Angad and named him as his successor, after the death of Guru Nanak on 22 September 1539, Guru Angad left Kartarpur for the village of Khadur Sahib. This move may have suggested by Guru Nanak, as the succession to gurgaddi by Guru Angad was disputed and claimed by the two sons of Guru Nanak, Sri Chand and Lakhmi Das. Post succession, at one point, very few Sikhs accepted Guru Angad as their leader, Guru Angad focussed on the teachings of Nanak, and building the community through charitable works such as langar. The second Mughal Emperor of India Humayun visited Guru Angad around 1540 after Humayun lost the Battle of Khanua, according to Sikh hagiographies, when Humayun arrived in Khadur Sahib Guru Angad was sitting and listening to hymns of the sangat
Guru Angad
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Guru Angad ਗੁਰੂ ਅੰਗਦ
Guru Angad
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Gurmukhi alphabetic excluding vowels.
9.
Guru Amar Das
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Guru Amar Das was the third of the Ten Gurus of Sikhism and became Sikh Guru on 26 March 1552 at age 73. Amar Das adhered to the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism for much of his life, One day he heard his nephews wife, Bibi Amro, reciting a hymn by Guru Nanak, and was deeply moved by it. He persuaded her to him to her father, Guru Angad, and in 1539. In 1552, after the death of Guru Angad, he became Guru Amar Das and he wrote and compiled hymns into a Pothi that ultimately helped create the Adi Granth. He founded centres of Sikh pilgrimage, and picked the site for the Golden Temple, Guru Amar Das remained the leader of the Sikhs till age 95, and named his son-in-law Bhai Jetha later remembered by the name Guru Ram Das as his successor. Amar Das was born to mother Bakht Kaur and father Tej Bhan Bhalla on May 51479 in Basarke village in what is now called Amritsar district of Punjab and he married Mansa Devi and they had four children which they named as Mohri, Mohan, Dani and Bhani. Amar Das was a religious Hindu, reputed to have gone on some twenty pilgrimages into the Himalayas, about 1539, on one such Hindu pilgrimage, he met a Hindu monk who asked him why he did not have a guru and Amar Das decided to get one. On his return, he heard Bibi Amro, the daughter of the Sikh Guru Angad and he learnt from her about Guru Angad, and with her help met the second Guru of Sikhism and adopted him as his spiritual Guru who was much younger than his own age. Guru Angad named Amar Das his successor in 1552, instead of naming of his surviving son Shri Chand. After Amar Das became the third Guru, he continued his pilgrimages to religious sites and he died in 1574, and like other Sikh Gurus he was cremated, with the flowers immersed into harisar. The use of fire being most appropriate way was explained by Guru Nanak in religious terms of god Agni burning the trap of death, Guru Amar Das emphasised both spiritual pursuits as well an ethical daily life. He encouraged his followers to wake up before dawn, do their ablutions and he recommended holy devotion with Guru image in his followers heart. He was also a reformer, and discouraged veiling of womens faces as well as sati and he encouraged the Kshatriya people to fight in order to protect people and for the sake of justice, stating this is Dharma. He met the Mughal Emperor Akbar, Akbar, who sought to encourage tolerance and acceptance across religious lines, readily accepted the suggestion. The Sikh hagiographies called janam-sakhis mention that Guru Amar Das persuaded Akbar to repeal the tax on Hindu pilgrims going to Haridwar. Guru Amar Das composed the hymn called Anand and made it a part of the ritual of Sikh marriage called Anand Karaj. The Anand hymn is sung, in times, not only during Sikh weddings. Parts of the Anand hymn are recited in Sikh temples every evening, at the naming of a Sikh baby and it is a section of the Anand Sahib composition of Guru Amar Das, printed on pages 917 to 922 of the Adi Granth and set to the Ramkali raga
Guru Amar Das
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Guru Amar Das - Goindwal
10.
Guru Ram Das
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Guru Ram Das was the fourth of the ten Gurus of Sikhism. He was born on 24 September 1534 in a poor Hindu family based in Lahore and his birth name was Jetha, he was orphaned at age 7, and thereafter grew up with his maternal grandmother in a village. At age 12, Bhai Jetha and his moved to Goindval. The boy thereafter accepted Guru Amar Das as mentor and served him, the daughter of Guru Amar Das married Bhai Jetha, and he thus became part of Guru Amar Dass family. As with the first two Gurus of Sikhism, Guru Amar Das instead of choosing his own sons, chose Bhai Jetha as his successor, Ram Das became the Guru of Sikhism in 1574 and served as the Sikh leader until his death in 1581. He faced hostilities from the sons of Guru Amar Das, shifted his base to lands identified by Guru Amar Das as Guru-ka-Chak. This newly founded town was eponymous Ramdaspur, later to evolve and he is also remembered in the Sikh tradition for expanding the manji organization for clerical appointments and donation collections to theologically and economically support the Sikh movement. He appointed his own son as his successor, and unlike the first four Gurus who were not related through descent and his father was Hari Das and his mother Anup Devi, a Sodhi Khatri caste family. He married Bibi Bhani, the daughter of Guru Amar Das. They had three sons, Prithi Chand, Mahadev and Guru Arjan, Guru Ram Das died on 1 September 1581, in the city of Amritsar, Punjab. Of his three sons, Guru Ram Das chose Arjan, the youngest, to succeed him as the fifth Sikh Guru, the choice of successor, as throughout most of the history of Sikh Guru successions, led to disputes and internal divisions among the Sikhs. Guru Ram Das is credited with founding the city of Amritsar in the Sikh tradition. Two versions of stories exist regarding the land where Guru Ram Das settled, in one based on a Gazetteer record, the land was purchased with Sikh donations, for 700 rupees from the owners of the village of Tung. In another version, Emperor Akbar is stated to have donated the land to the wife of Guru Ram Das. After his coronation in 1574, and the opposition he faced from the sons of Guru Amar Das. He started by completing the pool, and building his new official Guru centre and he invited merchants and artisans from other parts of India to settle into the new town with him. The town expanded during the time of Guru Arjan financed by donations, Guru Ram Das composed 638 hymns, or about ten percent of hymns in the Guru Granth Sahib. He was a poet, and composed his work in 30 ancient ragas of Indian classical music
Guru Ram Das
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Guru Ram Das
11.
Guru Arjan
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Guru Arjan was the first martyr of the Sikh faith and the fifth of the ten Sikh Gurus, who compiled writings to create the eleventh, the living Guru, Guru Granth Sahib. He was born in Goindval, Punjab the youngest son of Guru Ram Das and Mata Bhani and he was the first Guru in Sikhism who was born in a Sikh family. Guru Arjan led Sikhism for a quarter of a century and he completed the construction of Harimandir Sahib at Amritsar, after the fourth Sikh Guru founded the town and built a pool. Guru Arjan compiled the hymns of previous Gurus and of saints into Adi Granth, the first edition of the Sikh scripture. Guru Arjan reorganized the Masands system initiated by Guru Ram Das, by suggesting that the Sikhs donate, if possible, one tenth of their income, the Masand not only collected these funds but also taught tenets of Sikhism and settled civil disputes in their region. The dasvand financed the building of gurdwaras and langars, Guru Arjan was arrested under the orders of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and asked to convert to Islam. He refused, was tortured and executed in 1606 CE, historical records and the Sikh tradition are unclear whether Guru Arjan was executed by drowning or died during torture. His martyrdom is considered an event in the history of Sikhism. It is remembered as Shaheedi Divas of Guru Arjan every year on 16 June, Arjan was the son of Guru Ram Das, the fourth Guru in Sikhism. Arjan had two brothers, Prithi Chand and Mahadev. Guru Ram Das chose Arjan, the youngest, to succeed him as the fifth Sikh Guru, Mahadev, the middle brother chose the life of an ascetic. His choice of Arjan as successor, as throughout most of the history of Sikh Guru successions, led to disputes, the stories in the Sikh tradition about the succession dispute around Guru Arjan are inconsistent. In one version, Prithi Chand is remembered in the Sikh tradition as vehemently opposing Guru Arjan, the Sikhs following Guru Arjan called the Prithi Chand faction as Minas, who are alleged to have attempted to assassinate young Hargobind, and befriended Mughal agents. However, the version, found in alternate competing texts written by the Prithi Chand led Sikh faction contradict this version. They offer a different explanation for the attempt on Hargobinds life, the mainstream Sikh tradition recognised Guru Arjan as the fifth Guru, and Hargobind as the sixth Guru. Arjan, at age 18, became the fifth Guru in 1581 inheriting the title from his father, Guru Arjans martyrdom in Mughal custody has been a controversial issue in Sikh history, and has been variously interpreted. A similar theory floated in early 20th-century, asserts that this was just a single execution. Jahangir was jealous and outraged, and therefore he ordered the Gurus execution, in 1606 CE, the Guru was imprisoned in Lahore Fort, where by some accounts he was tortured and executed, and by other accounts the method of his death remains unresolved
Guru Arjan
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opaque watercolour on paper The Government Museum, Chandigarh
Guru Arjan
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Guru Arjan being pronounced as fifth Guru.
12.
Guru Hargobind
–
Guru Hargobind was the sixth of the Sikh gurus. He was barely eleven years old when he became Guru on 11 June 1606, after the execution of his father, Guru Arjan and he initiated a military tradition within Sikhism to resist Islamic persecution and protect the freedom of religion. He had the longest tenure as Guru, lasting 37 years,9 months and 3 days, Hargobind was born in 1595 in Vadali Guru, a village 7 km west of Amritsar, the only son of Guru Arjan, the fifth Sikh Guru. He suffered from smallpox as a child and survived an attempt by an uncle, as well as another attempt on his life. He studied religious texts with Bhai Gurdas and trained in swordsmanship, shortly afterwards, Guru Arjan was arrested, tortured and killed by order of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, Guru Hargobinds succession ceremony took place on 24 June 1606. He put on two swords, one indicated his spiritual authority and the other, his temporal authority and he followed his martyred fathers advice and always kept himself surrounded by armed Sikhs for protection. The number fifty two was special in his life, and his retinue consisted of fifty two armed men and he thus founded the military tradition in the Sikh faith. Guru Hargobind had three wives, Mata Damodari, Mata Nanaki and Mata Maha Devi and he had children from all three wives. Two of his eldest sons from the first wife died during his lifetime and his youngest son by his third wife was Tegh Bahadur, who became the influential ninth Sikh Guru. The Guru was a martial artist, a hunter and, according to Persian records, unlike earlier Gurus, he. Guru Hargobind encouraged people to physical fitness and keep their bodies ready for physical combat. The arming and training of some of his followers began. The Guru came to possess seven hundred horses and his Risaldari grew to three hundred horsemen and sixty musketeers and he nominated his grandson to succeed him as the seventh Guru Har Rai. He died in 1644, and was cremated on the banks of River Sutlej, because of the execution of Guru Arjan by Mughal Emperor Jahangir, Guru Hargobind from the very start was a dedicated enemy of the Mughal rule. He advised Sikhs to arm and fight the mughals, the death of his father at the hands of Jahangir prompted him to emphasise the military dimension of the Sikh community. He symbolically wore two swords, which represented miri and piri and he built a fort to defend Ramdaspur and created a formal court, Akal Takht. Jahangir responded by jailing the 14 year old Guru Hargobind at Gwalior Fort in 1609, on the pretext that the fine imposed on Guru Arjan had not been paid by the Sikhs and it is not clear as to how much time he spent as a prisoner. The year of his release appears to have been either 1611 or 1612 and it is unclear why he was released
Guru Hargobind
–
Guru Hargobind ਗੁਰੂ ਹਰਿਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਜੀ
Guru Hargobind
–
Guru Hargobindji and Samarth Ramdas
Guru Hargobind
–
Guru Hargobind is released from Gwalior Fort by Jahangir's order
13.
Guru Har Rai
–
Guru Har Rai was the seventh of ten Gurus of Sikhism. He became the Sikh leader at age 14, on 8 March 1644, after the death of his grandfather and he guided the Sikhs for about seventeen years, till his death at age 31. Guru Har Rai is notable for maintaining the army of Sikh soldiers that the sixth Sikh Guru had amassed. He supported the moderate Sufi influenced Dara Shikoh instead of conservative Sunni influenced Aurangzeb as the two entered into a war of succession to the Mughal Empire throne. After Aurangzeb won the war in 1658, he summoned Guru Har Rai in 1660 to explain his support for the executed Dara Shikoh. Har Rai sent his elder son Ram Rai to represent him, Aurangzeb kept Ram Rai as hostage, questioned Ram Rai about a verse in the Adi Granth – the holy text of Sikhs at that time. Aurangzeb claimed that it disparaged the Muslims, Har Krishan became the eighth Guru at age 5 after Guru Har Rais death in 1661. Some Sikh literature spell his name as Hari Rai, Har Rai was born to Nihal Kaur and Baba Gurditta. His father died while he was 8 years old, at age 10, in 1640, Guru Har Rai was married to Mata Kishan Kaur the daughter of Daya Ram. They had two children, Ram Rai and Har Krishan, the latter of whom became the eighth Guru and his elder brother Dhir Mal had gained encouragement and support from Shah Jahan, with free land grants and Mughal sponsorship. Dhir Mal attempted to form a parallel Sikh tradition and criticized his grand father, the sixth Guru disagreed with Dhir Mal, and designated the younger Har Rai as the successor. Authentic literature about Guru Har Rai life and times are scarce, he left no texts of his own, some of the biographies of Guru Har Rai written in the 18th century such as by Kesar Singh Chhibber, and the 19th century Sikh literature are highly inconsistent. Guru Har Rai provided medical care to Dara Shikoh, possibly when he had been poisoned by Mughal operatives, according to Mughal records, Har Rai provided other forms of support to Dara Shikoh as he and his brother Aurangzeb battled for rights to succession. Ultimately, Aurangzeb won, arrested Dara Shikoh and executed him on charges of apostasy from Islam, in 1660, Aurangzeb summoned Har Rai to appear before him to explain his relationship with Dara Shikoh. In the Sikh tradition, Guru Har Rai was asked why he was helping the Mughal prince Dara Shikoh whose forefathers had persecuted Sikhs and Sikh Gurus. Har Rai is believed to have replied that if a man plucks flowers with one hand and gives it away using his other hand, Guru Har Rai died of natural causes. He appointed his 5 year old younger son Har Krishan as the guru before his death. Guru Har Rai traveled to Malwa region of the Indian subcontinent and he started several public singing and scripture recital traditions in Sikhism
Guru Har Rai
14.
Guru Har Krishan
–
Template, Sikhi sidebar Guru Har Krishan was the eighth of the ten Sikh Gurus. At the age of 5, he became the youngest Guru in Sikhi on 7 October 1661, succeeding his father and he contracted smallpox and died of the disease in 1664 before reaching his 8th birthday. He is also known as Bal Guru, and sometimes spelled in Sikh literature as Hari Krishan and he is remembered in the Sikh tradition for saying Baba Bakale before he died, which Sikhs interpreted to identify his granduncle Guru Tegh Bahadur as the next successor. Guru Har Krishan had the shortest tenure as Guru, lasting only 2 years,5 months and 24 days, Guru Har Krishan ji was born in Kiratpur in northwest Indian subcontinent to Krishen Devi and Guru Har Rai ji. After Aurangzeb won the war in 1658, he summoned Guru Har Rai in 1660 to explain his support for the executed Dara Shikoh. Guru Har Rai sent his elder son Ram Rai to represent him, Aurangzeb kept the 13 year old Ram Rai as hostage, questioned Ram Rai about a verse in the Adi Granth – the holy text of Sikhs. Aurangzeb claimed that it disparaged the Muslims, Aurangzeb meanwhile rewarded Ram Rai, patronizing him with land grants in Dehra Dun region of the Himalayas. However, Guru Harkrishan Rai contracted smallpox when he arrived in Delhi, on his deathbed, Guru Har Krishan said, Baba Bakale, and died in 1664. The devout Sikhs interpreted those words to mean that the next Guru is to be found in Bakala village, which identified as Guru Tegh Bahadur. Authentic literature with more details about Guru Har Krishans life and times are scarce, when they reached Delhi, Guru Har Krishan and his party were the guests of Raja Jai Singh II. Every day, large numbers of Sikh devotees flocked to see the Guru, one of the historic gurdwaras in India, the Bangla Sahib in Delhi, was built on the site where Guru Har Krishan helped the sick. Guru Har Krishan died at Gurudwara Bala Sahib, Delhi
Guru Har Krishan
–
A fresco of Guru Har Krishan ca. 1745
Guru Har Krishan
–
Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, where the Guru died
Guru Har Krishan
–
Gurudwara Panjokhra Sahib,
Ambala,
Haryana - Pertaining to 8th Sikh Guru Har Krishan
Guru Har Krishan
–
History of Gurudwara Panjokhra Sahib, Haryana
15.
Guru Tegh Bahadur
–
Guru Tegh Bahadur, revered as the ninth Nanak, was the ninth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion. Tegh Bahadur continued in the spirit of the first guru, Nanak, gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib and Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi mark the places of execution and cremation of the Gurus body. Guru Tegh Bahadur was born in a Sodhi Family, the Sixth guru, Guru Hargobind had one daughter Bibi Viro and five sons, Baba Gurditta, Suraj Mal, Ani Rai, Atal Rai and Tyaga Mal. Amritsar at that time was the centre of Sikh faith, Guru Tegh Bahadur was brought up in Sikh culture and trained in archery and horsemanship. He was also taught the old classics and he underwent prolonged spells of seclusion and contemplation. Tegh Bahadur was married on 3 February 1633, to Mata Gujri, in the 1640s, nearing his death, Guru Hargobind and his wife Nanaki moved to his ancestral village of Bakala in Amritsar district, together with Tegh Bahadur and Mata Gujri. Bakala, as described in Gurbilas Dasvin Patishahi, was then a town with many beautiful pools, wells. After Guru Hargobinds death, Tegh Bahadur continued to live in Bakala with his wife and he spent most of his time in meditation, but was not a recluse, and attended to family responsibilities. He made visits outside Bakala, and visited the eighth Sikh guru Guru Har Krishan, in March 1664 Guru Har Krishan contracted smallpox. When asked by his followers who would lead them after him, he replied Baba Bakala, taking the advantage of the ambiguity in the words of the dying Guru, many installed themselves in Bakala, claiming themselves as the new Guru. Sikhs were puzzled to see so many claimants, the Sikh tradition has a legend on how Tegh Bahadur was selected the ninth guru. A wealthy trader, Baba Makhan Shah Labana, had prayed for his life and had promised to gift 500 gold coins to the Sikh guru if he survived. He arrived in search of the ninth Guru, every guru he met accepted the 2 gold coins and bid him farewell. Then he discovered that Tegh Bahadur also lived at Bakala, Labana gifted Tegh Bahadur the usual offering of two gold coins. Tegh Bahadur gave him his blessings and remarked that his offering was considerably short of the five hundred. Makhan Shah Labana forthwith made good the difference and ran upstairs and he began shouting from the rooftop, Guru ladho re, Guru ladho re meaning I have found the Guru, I have found the Guru. In August 1664 a Sikh Sangat arrived in Bakala and anointed Tegh Bahadur as the guru of Sikhs. The Sangat was led by Diwan Durga Mal, and a formal Tikka ceremony was performed by Bhai Gurditta on Tegh Bahadur conferring Guruship on him
Guru Tegh Bahadur
–
Guru Tegh Bahadur ਗੁਰੂ ਤੇਗ਼ ਬਹਾਦਰ
Guru Tegh Bahadur
–
Gurudwara Sisganj Sahib in Delhi. The long window under the marble platform is the location where Guru Tegh Bahadur was martyred.
Guru Tegh Bahadur
–
Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, Delhi
16.
Guru Gobind Singh
–
Guru Gobind Singh, born Gobind Rai, was the 10th Sikh Guru, a spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher. His four sons died during his lifetime in Mughal-Sikh wars – two in battle, two executed by the Mughal army. Among his notable contributions to Sikhism are founding the Sikh warrior community called Khalsa in 1699 and introducing the Five Ks, Guru Gobind Singh also continued the formalisation of the religion, wrote important Sikh texts, and enshrined the scripture the Guru Granth Sahib as Sikhisms eternal Guru. Gobind Singh was the son of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh guru. He was born in Patna, Bihar, while his father was visiting Bengal and his birth name was Gobind Rai, and a shrine named Takht Sri Patna Harimandar Sahib marks the site of the house where he was born and spent the first four years of his life. In 1670, his family returned to Punjab, and in March 1672 they moved to Chakk Nanaki in the Himalayan foothills of north India, called the Sivalik range, where he was schooled. Gobind Singhs father Tegh Bahadur founded the city of Chakk Nanaki, now known as Anandpur Sahib, in 1665 and his father Guru Tegh Bahadur was petitioned by Kashmiri Pandits in 1675 for protection from the fanatic persecution by Iftikar Khan, an Islamic satrap of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Tegh Bahadur considered a resolution by meeting Aurangzeb, but was cautioned by his advisors that his life may be at risk. The young Gobind Rai – to be known as Gobind Singh after 1699 – advised his father no one was more worthy to lead. After this martyrdom, the young Gobind Rai was installed by the Sikhs as the tenth Sikh Guru on Vaisakhi on March 29,1676. The education of Guru Gobind Singh continued after he became the 10th Guru and he stayed in Paonta, near the banks of river Yamuna, till 1685. Guru Gobind Singh had three wives, at age 10, he married Mata Jito on 21 June 1677 at Basantgaṛh,10 km north of Anandpur. The couple had three sons, Jujhar Singh, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh. at age 17, he married Mata Sundari on 4 April 1684 at Anandpur. The couple had one son, Ajit Singh. at age 33 and they had no children, but she had an influential role in Sikhism. Guru Gobind Singh proclaimed her as the Mother of the Khalsa, the life example and leadership of Guru Gobind Singh has been of historic importance to the Sikhs. In 1699, the Guru requested the Sikhs to congregate at Anandpur on Vaisakhi, according to the Sikh tradition, he asked for a volunteer from those who gathered, someone willing to sacrifice his head. One came forward, whom he took inside a tent, the Guru returned to the crowd without the volunteer, but with a bloody sword. He asked for volunteer, and repeated the same process of returning from the tent without anyone
Guru Gobind Singh
–
Painting of Guru Gobind Singh, c. 1800
Guru Gobind Singh
–
Guru Gobind Singh's birthplace
Guru Gobind Singh
–
Keshgarh Sahib Gurudwara at
Anandpur Sahib, Punjab, the birthplace of
Khalsa
Guru Gobind Singh
–
Old Fresco of Guru Gobind Singh and The
Panj Piare found in Abandoned Gurdwara Bhai Than Singh built in the reign of Maharaja
Ranjit Singh
17.
Khalsa
–
The word Khalsa translates to Sovereign/Free. Another interpretation is that of being Pure/Genuine, the Khalsa was inaugurated on 30 March 1699, by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru. The Khalsa is also called the nation of the Sikhs, the Sikhs of the Khalsa can be identified with the given Five Ks and titles of Singh and Kaur, granted after the disciple has been baptized into the order of the Khalsa. The tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh at an event that coincided with the Vaisakhi day created the Khalsa in the year 1699 A, a Sikh male at being initiated into the Khalsa is titled Singh meaning Lion and a female is entitled Kaur meaning Princess. From then on they are referred to as Amritdhari. The Khalsa is considered the pinnacle of Sikhism, the Khalsa is expected to perform no ritual and to believe in no superstition of any kind but only believe in one God who is the Master and the Protector of all, the only Creator and Destroyer. The usual interpretation of the Ḳhālsā is made as Pure as in the statement, word ḳhāliṣa is the recognition of every Sikh that follows the discipline. There is also another word from Arabic خالسا which is pronounced as Khalsa and is adapted in Punjabi/English/Hindi, so, there are two different words in Arabic, خالسا and خالصة. Furthermore, there is a word in Persian خالص meaning pure, a reader of Urdu can testify the Ḫalis in the Persian script and language as described below. Khalsa is also used for a property which belongs to the emperor directly, the official language in the Mughal era was Persian and Persian language contains a word Khalis which directly translates to Pure in English. This may give a new meaning to the word Khalsa, in Sikh tradition, the word Khalsa first appears in a hukmanama by Guru Hargobind which refers to a sangat as Guru ka khalsa. It also appears in a letter by Guru Tegh Bahadur, in the same sense, although the early Mughal emperors had peaceful relations with the Sikh Gurus, the Sikhs started facing religious persecution during the reign of Jahangir. Persecution against the Sikhs continued until the creation of the Sikh Kingdom in 1799, Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Guru, was arrested and executed by Emperor Jahangir in 1606. The following Guru, Guru Hargobind formally militarized the Sikhs and emphasized the nature of the temporal power. In 1675, Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of the Sikhs was executed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb for saving the religious rights of Hindus. In 1699, his son and the tenth Guru, Gobind Singh sent hukmanamas to his followers throughout the Indian sub-continent, asking them to gather at Anandpur Sahib on 30 March 1699, Guru Gobind Singh addressed the congregation from the entryway of a tent pitched on a hill. He drew his sword and asked for a volunteer who was willing to sacrifice his head, no one answered his first call, nor the second call, but on the third invitation, a person called Daya Ram came forward and offered his head to the Guru. Guru Gobind Singh took the volunteer inside the tent, and emerged shortly, one more volunteer came forward, and entered the tent with him
Khalsa
–
The
Panj Pyare " The five beloved ones "
Khalsa
–
Akali Tapa Singh, an early Khalsa soldier during the times of the
Sikh Misls
Khalsa
–
An inscription naming the five members of the
Khalsa Panth, at Takht
Keshgarh Sahib, the birthplace of Khalsa on
Baisakh 1, 1756
Vikram Samvat.
Khalsa
–
The creation of the Khalsa; initiated by
Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru.
18.
Bhagat
–
For the Sindhi performance art see Sindhi bhagat Bhagat means devotee, and comes from the Sanskrit word Bhakti, which means devotion and love towards God. Indian, Hindu and Jain name, from modern Indo-Aryan bhagat ‘devotee’, ‘votary’, from Sanskrit bhakta and they evolved a belief in one God that preceded Bhagat Kabir selected the writings of The Great Hindu Bhaktis and Sufi saints. In Hinduism and bhagat Sikhism, the community, which follow the teachings of Bhagat Kabir, in Punjab, Bhagat community having faith in Hindu and Sikh religion. Bhagats having their faith in all the Gurus of Sikhism but they considered Bhagat Kabir is their chief Guru, in Hinduism, Sikhism a Bhagat or Sant is a holy person who leads humanity towards God and highlights injustices in the practices of the world. The Sufi Muslim Bhagats lived in Hindu centres and became imbued with Hindu spirituality
Bhagat
–
Four Bhagats of Sikhism: Ravidas, Kabir, Namdev and Pipa.
19.
Bhagat Kabir
–
Kabir was a 15th-century Indian mystic poet and saint, whose writings influenced Hinduisms Bhakti movement and his verses are found in Sikhisms scripture Adi Granth. His early life was in a Muslim family, but he was influenced by his teacher. During his lifetime, he was threatened by both Hindus and Muslims for his views, when he died, both Hindus and Muslims he had inspired claimed him as theirs. Kabir suggested that True God is with the person who is on the path of righteousness, considered all creatures on earth as his own self, to know God, suggested Kabir, meditate with the mantra Rāma, Rāma. Kabirs legacy survives and continues through the Kabir panth, a community that recognises him as its founder and is one of the Sant Mat sects. Its members are known as Kabir panthis, the years of Kabirs birth and death are unclear. Some historians favor 1398–1448 as the period Kabir lived, while others favor 1440–1518, many legends, inconsistent in their details, exist about his birth family and early life. However, modern scholarship has abandoned these legends for lack of historical evidence, according to the Indologist Wendy Doniger, Kabir was born into a Muslim family and various birth legends attempt to drag Kabir back over the line from Muslim to Hindu. This alone would explain his relative ignorance of Islamic tenets, his acquaintance with Tantric-yoga practices. He appears far more conversant with Nath-panthi basic attitudes and philosophy than with the Islamic orthodox tradition, some legends assert that Kabir never married and led a celibates life. Kabirs family is believed to have lived in the locality of Kabir Chaura in Varanasi, kabīr maṭha, a maṭha located in the back alleys of Kabir Chaura, celebrates his life and times. Accompanying the property is a house named Nīrūṭīlā which houses Niru, the house also accommodates students and scholars who live there and study Kabirs work. Kabir composed poems in a pithy and earthy style, fused with imagery and his poems were in vernacular Hindi, borrowing from various dialects including Avadhi, Braj, and Bhojpuri. They cover various aspects of life and call for a devotion for God. Kabir and his followers named his verbally composed poems of wisdom as bāņīs and these include songs and couplets, called variously dohe, śalokā, or sākhī. The latter term means witness, implying the poems to be evidence of the Truth, literary works with compositions attributed to Kabir include Kabir Bijak, Kabir Parachai, Sakhi Granth, Adi Granth, and Kabir Granthawali. However, except for Adi Granth, significantly different versions of texts exist and it is unclear which one is more original, for example. The most in depth analysis of various versions and translations are credited to Charlotte Vaudeville
Bhagat Kabir
–
An 1825 CE painting depicts Kabir with a disciple
Bhagat Kabir
–
Indian postage stamp portraying Kabir, 1952
20.
Bhagat Ravidas
–
Ravidas was a North Indian mystic poet-sant of the bhakti movement during the 15th to 16th century CE. Venerated as a Guru in the region of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra and he was a poet-saint, social reformer and a spiritual figure. He is considered as the founder of 21st-century Ravidassia religion, by a group who previously were associated with Sikhism, the life details of Ravidas are uncertain and contested. Most scholars believe he was born about 1450 CE, in a family that worked with animals and their skin to produce leather products. Tradition and medieval era texts state Ravidas was one of the disciples of the Brahmin bhakti sant-poet Ramananda, Ravidas devotional songs were included in the Sikh Scriptures, Guru Granth Sahib. The Panch Vani text of the Dadupanthi tradition within Hinduism also includes numerous poems of Ravidas, Guru Ravidas Ji taught removal of social divisions of caste and gender, and promoted unity in the pursuit of personal spiritual freedoms. His name often includes the honorific Bhagat, sometimes spelled as Ravidass, the details of Ravidas life are not well known. Most scholars state he was born about 1450, and died about 1520, Ravidas was born in the village of Seer Goverdhanpur, near Varanasi in what is now Uttar Pradesh, India. His birthplace is now known as Shri Guru Ravidas Janam Asthan, mata Ghurbinia was his mother, and his father was Raghuram. His parents belonged to a leather-working Chamar community, whose profession involved processing dead animals and their skins, while his original occupation was leather work, he began to spend most of his time in spiritual pursuits as a Vaishnava Hindu in the Ramananda tradition. Thereafter he spent most of his life in the company of Hindu saints, sadhus and he is traditionally considered as Kabirs younger contemporary. His ideas and fame grew over his lifetime, and texts suggest Brahmins used to bow before him and he travelled extensively, visiting Hindu pilgrimage sites in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and those in the Himalayas. He abandoned saguna forms of beings, and focussed on the nirguna form of supreme beings. As his poetic hymns in regional languages inspired others, people from various background sought his teachings, most scholars believe that Ravidas met Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism. He is revered in the Sikh scripture, and 41 of Ravidas poems are included in the Adi Granth and these poems are one of the oldest attested source of his ideas and literary works. Another substantial source of legends and stories about the life of Ravidas is the hagiography in the Sikh tradition and this text, composed over 150 years after Ravidas death, in 1693, includes him as one of the seventeen saints of Indian religious tradition. The 17th-century Nabhadass Bhaktamal, and the Parcais of Anantadas, both chapters on Ravidas. Anantadas, a writer who belonged to the bhakti poet-sant Ramananda group and this text, called the Parcaīs, included Ravidas among the sants whose biography and poems were included
Bhagat Ravidas
–
Shri Guru Ravidass Ji
Bhagat Ravidas
–
A procession in Bedford, United Kingdom by Ravidasias to mark the birthday of Ravidas.
Bhagat Ravidas
–
A Guru Ravidass temple in the UK.
21.
Bhagat Farid
–
He was one of the founding fathers of the Chishti Sufi order. Upon completing his education, Farīd left for Sistan and Kandahar, once his education was over, he moved to Delhi, where he learned the Islamic doctrine from his master, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki. He later moved to Hansi, Haryana, when Quṭbuddīn Bakhtiyār Kākī died in 1235, Farīd left Hansi and became his spiritual successor, and he settled in Ajodhan instead of Delhi. On his way to Ajodhan, while passing through Faridkot, he met the 20-year-old Nizāmuddīn, who went on to become his disciple, Baba Farid had three wives and eight children. One of his wives, Hazabara, was the daughter of Sulṭān Nasīruddīn Maḥmūd, the great Arab traveller Ibn Battuta once visited this Sufi saint. Ibn Battuta says that Fariduddin Ganjshakar was the guide of the King of India. He also met Baba Farids two sons, Baba Farids descendants, also known as Fareedi, Fareedies or Faridy, mostly carry the name Fārūqī, and can be found in Pakistan, India and the diaspora. Fariduddin Ganjshakars descendants include the Sufi saint Salim Chishti, whose daughter was the Emperor Jehangirs foster mother and their descendants settled in Sheikhupur, Badaun and the remains of a fort they built can still be found. One of his descendants was the noted Sufi scholar MuhibbUllah Allahabadi, Fariduddin Ganjshakars shrine darbār is located in Pakpattan. One of Farīds most important contributions to Punjabi literature was his development of the language for literary purposes, although earlier poets had written in a primitive Punjabi, before Farīd there was little in Punjabi literature apart from traditional and anonymous ballads. By using Punjabi as the language of poetry, Farīd laid the basis for a vernacular Punjabi literature that would be developed later, the city of Faridkot bears his name. According to legend, Farīd stopped by the city, then named Mokhalpūr, the king was said to be so impressed by his presence that he named the city after Baba Farid, which today is known as Tilla Baba Farid. The festival Bābā Sheikh Farād Āgman Purb Melā is celebrated in September each year from, Ajodhan was also renamed as Farīds Pāk Pattan, meaning Holy Ferry, today it is generally called Pāk Pattan Sharīf. There are various explanations of why Baba Farid was given the title Shakar Ganj, one legend says his mother used to encourage the young Farīd to pray by placing sugar under his prayer mat. Once, when she forgot, the young Farīd found the sugar anyway, there is also a long covered corridor. Inside the tomb are two white marbled graves, one is Baba Farids, and the other is his elder sons. These graves are covered by sheets of cloth called Chaddars. The space inside the tomb is limited, not more than ten people can be inside at one time
Bhagat Farid
22.
Namdev
–
Namdev, also transliterated as Namdeo and Namadeva, was a poet-saint from Maharashtra, India who is significant to the Varkari sect of Hinduism. He is also venerated in Sikhism, as well as Hindu warrior-ascetic traditions such as the Dadupanthis, the details of Namdevs life are unclear. He is the subject of many miracle-filled hagiographies composed centuries after he died, scholars find these biographies to be inconsistent and contradictory. Namdev was influenced by Vaishnavism, and became known in India for his devotional songs set to music. His philosophy contains both nirguna and saguna Brahman elements, with monistic themes, details of the life of Namdev are vague. He is traditionally believed to have lived between 1270 and 1350 but S. B, some scholars date him to around 1425 and another, R. Bharadvaj, proposes 1309-1372. Namdev was married to Rajai and had a son, Vitha, contemporary references to him by a disciple, a potter, a guru and other close associates also exist. Smrtisthala, a later Mahanubhava text from around 1310, may possibly refer to him, after that. As with various details of his life, elements such as this may have been invented to sidestep issues that might have caused controversy. In this instance, the controversy was that of caste or, more specifically. He was born into what is recognised as a Shudra caste, variously recorded as shimpi in the Marathi language. That he was himself a calico-printer or tailor and that he spent much of his life in Punjab, the Lilacaritra suggests, however, that Namdev was a cattle-thief who was devoted to and assisted Vithoba. A friendship between Namdev and Jñāneśvar, a yogi-saint, has been posited at least as far back as circa 1600 CE when Nabhadas, a hagiographer, noted it in his Bhaktamal. Namdev is generally considered by Sikhs to be a man, many of whom came from lower castes. Such men, who comprised both Hindus and Muslims, traditionally wrote devotional poetry in a style that was acceptable to the Sikh belief system, a tradition in Maharashtra is that Namdev died at the age of eighty in 1350 CE. Sikh tradition maintains that his place was the Punjabi village of Ghuman. Aside from a shrine there that marks his death, there are monuments at the other claimant places, being Pandharpur, scholars note that many miracles and specifics about Namdevs life appear only in manuscripts written centuries after Namdevs death. The birth theory with Namdev floating down a river, is first found in Mahipatis Bhaktavijay composed around 1762, Mahipatis biography of Namdev adds numerous other miracles, such as buildings rotating and sun rising in the west to show respect to Namdev
Namdev
–
Sant Namdev / Bhagat Namdev संत नामदेव
Namdev
–
Namdev (second from right) with other
bhagats of
Sikhism: Ravidas, Kabir and Pipa.
23.
Bhagat Sadhana
–
Bhagat Sadhna, also called Sadhna Qasai, was a North Indian Muslim poet, saint, mystic and one of the devotees whose hymn was incorporated in Guru Granth Sahib. Venerated in the region of Punjab, among Sikhs and Ravidassias and his one hymn is present in Adi Granth Sahib, in Raga Bilaval. The followers of Bhagat Sadhna are called Sadhna Panthis and his only memorial is a mosque, present at Sirhind, where he died. Sadhna was born in 1180 AD at village Sehwaan in Hyderabad, as his ancestors were butchers by profession, he continued the family profession of slaughtering goats and selling meat. It is said there were shady trees and drinking water facility available near your shop. Due to this, in addition to customers, travelers, saints and even used to come over. Sadhna was very interested in spirituality from his adolescence and as a result, Sadhna got shaligram shilas and used them as weights in his profession. Sadhna annoyed vaishnav sadhus and pundits with this act, on one side, he was of lower profession and caste, and on the other, he was belittling their idol worship by using idol in the flesh of animals, which is consider as sin by the Pundits. Those religious scholars always argued and debated him, in which Sadhna always outwitted them. It is recorded one of vaishnav saint took shaligram stones with him. Sadhna had no issues with this and did not object, vaishnav saint continued worshipping shaligram but got no internal pleasure and wisdom, as he had seen in state, behavior and thoughts of Sadhna. With dashing hopes he returned Shaligram Stones, the weights of Sadhna back, Sadhna preached that Shaligrams Stones are not god as these are lifeless stones, and can not give any wisdom to a living being. His spiritual quest led him to renounce the life of a householder and he left Sehvan and roamed about the country preaching the love of God. This historical account is from the time when Sadhna was young, during his travels in North India, his looks pleased a young married Brahmin lady, who wanted to have sex with him. When she asked Sadhna, he replied that he could not have sexual relation with anyone out of his marriage and she thought Sadhna might be fearing of his husband. Without understanding Sadhna thoughts, she killed her husband, came back to Sadhna and told what she did. Sadhna got shocked and left the area after sermonizing her, the lady felt ashamed, she burnt herself on husbands funeral pyre, so that people continued thinking her to be Sati-Savitri. According to few authors, He came to Punjab after this incident, another view exist that Brahmins wife complained to local administration that Sadhna raped her
Bhagat Sadhana
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Mosque of Devotee Sadhna,
Sirhind
24.
Bhagat Pipa
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Bhagat Pipa, born in Malwa region of north India, was a Rajput king of Gagaraungarh, who abdicated and turned into a sant and Hindu mystic poet of the Bhakti movement. Pipas year of birth or death is unknown, but he is believed to have lived in late 14th. Bhagat Pipa is considered one of the earliest influential sants of the Bhakti movement in 15th century north India and his devotional hymns are incorporated in Guru Granth Sahib, a Sikhism scripture. Pipa is also known as Raja Pipaji or Rao Pipa or Sardar Pipa or Sant Pipaji or Pipa Bairagi or Pipanand Acharya, Pipa was born in a Rajput royal family, at Gagaron, in present-day Jhalawar district of Rajasthan in a Rajput family, became the king of Gagaraungarh. According to Bhaktamal, a Bhakti movement hagiography, his wife Sita stayed with him before, the robbers were so moved that they abandoned their ways and became his disciples. His date of birth and death is unknown, but the traditional genealogy in Bhakti hagiography suggests he died about 1400 CE, Pipa taught that god is within ones own self, and that true worship is to look within and have reverence for God in each human being. He influenced Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, and Bhagat Pipas hymns are included in the Guru Granth Sahib, two collections of Pipa’s sayings are known to exist, namely Shñ Pipa ji Bani and Sarab Gutaka, both in manuscript form. Pipa Math, a monastery in Dwãrkã, honours his memory, michaels, Alex, Hinduism, Past and Present, Princeton, Princeton University Press Encyclopedia of Sikhism by Harbans Singh. Published by Punjabi University, Patiala Exegesis of Bani of Bhagat Pipa - Dharam Singh Nihang Singh * History of Bhagat Pipaji Maharaj
Bhagat Pipa
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Pipa (rightmost) with other Bhagats of Sikhism, Ravidas, Kabir and Namdev.
25.
Jayadeva in Sikhism
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Jayadeva, also known as Jaidev, was a Sanskrit poet during the 12th century. Born in a Brahmin family, he is most known for his epic poem Gita Govinda and this text depicts the divine love of Krishna and his consort, Radha. This poem, which presents the view that Radha is greater than Hari, is considered an important text in the Bhakti movement of Hinduism. Little details are known of his life, except that he was a loner poet, Jayadeva is the earliest dated author of hymns that are included the Guru Granth Sahib, the primary scripture of Sikhism – a religion founded in the Indian subcontinent centuries after his death. A Brahmin by birth, the date and place of Jayadevas birth are uncertain, recent studies show scholars still disagree on the issue. The poets parents were named Bhojadeva and Ramadevi, from temple inscriptions it is now known that Jayadeva received his education in Sanskrit poetry from a place called Kurmapataka, possibly near Konark in Odisha. These inscriptions narrate how Jayadeva had been a member of the faculty of the school at Kurmapataka. He might have studied there as well and it must have been right after his childhood education in Kenduli Sasan that he left for Kurmapataka and gained experience in composing poetry, music and dancing. Jayadeva was instrumental in popularizing the Dasavatara, the ten incarnations of Vishnu in another composition, furthermore, the classic Tribhangi posture of Krishna playing the flute gained popularity due to him. Two hymns of Jayadeva, have incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib. The hymns are written in a mixture of Sanskrit and eastern Apabhramsa, there are records narrating how Jayadevas work had a profound influence on Guru Nanak during his visit to Puri. He also institutionalized the Devadasi system in Oriya temples, Sanskrit literature Jayadeva in Sikhism Bhakta Jayadeva,1938 and 1961 Telugu language films Sanskrit Scholars of Odisha Jayadéva. Media related to Jayadeva at Wikimedia Commons
Jayadeva in Sikhism
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Jaydeva worships
Vishnu.
Jayadeva in Sikhism
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Jayadeva Pitha, Kenduli Village (Kendu Vilwa)
Jayadeva in Sikhism
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Basohli painting (circa 1730 AD) depicting a scene from Jayadeva's Gita Govinda.
Jayadeva in Sikhism
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Deities
26.
Guru Maneyo Granth
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Installed as the Guru Granth Sahib, it is now the central text of Sikhism, and the eternal Guru of all Sikhs. It is central to Sikh worship as it is said to imbibe a living spirit of Ten Sikh Gurus, the composition of the sacred Granth contains renderings of the Hymns of six Gurus of the Sikh faith and some Bhaktas and saints. It was composed in this form in the year 1604 with the addition of Guru Tegh Bahadurs Bani. Its blessings are sought by the seeker with a devout heart. The Sikh religion sincerely believes that in each of the succeeding Gurus the spirit of Guru Nanak was operating, the sacred Granth is installed in all Sikh holy places of worship and treated as the presiding presence of the Guru, an apostle of Divine Truth. The devotees of the Sangat or congregation gather in assembly to pray. This comes through in the mystical wisdom contained within the words of Gurbani, the Gurus word, known as sabad is taken as the mystic experience of the Guru. In the words of Bhai Gurdas, a scholar of the Gurus time, In the word is the Guru. In other words, the body was not the Guru. When the human mind dives deeper and deeper into the Gurus word, all mental impurities depart, thereby the devotee attains the divine light and wisdom which leads him to contemplate and meditate on Gods name. In the light of the realities, the Sikh religion makes the holy Granth the living master of the Sikh Panth. Before he died, Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru and he then delivered a self-composed hymn, Agya bhai Akal ki tabhi chalayo Panth. Sabh Sikhan ko hukam hai Guru manyo Granth, Guru Granth Ji manyo pargat Guran ki deh. Jo Prabhu ko milbo chahe khoj shabad mein le, raj karega Khalsa aqi rahei na koe, Khwar hoe sabh milange bache sharan jo hoe. Translation, Under orders of the Immortal Being, the Panth was created, all Sikhs are enjoined to accept the Granth as their Guru. Consider the Guru Granth as an embodiment of the Gurus. Those who want to meet God, the pure Khalsa shall rule, and the impures will be left no more, Those separated will unite and all the devotees of the Guru shall be saved. He also offered his obeisance to the sacred Granth thus conveying his Light to it and this historic development took place in Oct.1708 which ensured that the order of the Khalsa brotherhood always remained an abiding force for Sikh Panth unity. Hai bhī sachu nānaka hosī bhī sachu Simplified transliteration, Ik ōaṅkār sat nām kartā purkh nirbhau nirvair akāl mūrat ajūnī saibhaṅ gur prasād, chant And Meditate, True In The Primal Beginning
Guru Maneyo Granth
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With his words" Guru Maneyo Granth,
Guru Gobind Singh installed the
Adi Granth as the
Guru Granth Sahib as the eternal Sikh Guru
Guru Maneyo Granth
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Illuminated
Adi Granth folio with the seal of
Guru Gobind Singh. The manuscript is of the Lahore recension, late 17th to early 18th century.
