• Most Sikhs live in Punjab- northern India

• Sikhism is based primarily on Hinduism but it also agrees with certain basic aspects of Islam• Even though

Hinduism is polytheistic, Sikhism holds that there is only one God- influence of Islam.

• Guru Nanak• 1469-1539•Was born in a village near Lahore- present day Pakistan • His family was Hindu•Member of the warrior caste but poor•Married in his teens and had two sons• He believed that meditating and singing hymns of praise were the best means for increasing intimacy with God• Rejected many Hindu traditions

• One morning Nanak did not return from bathing in the river

• He was presumed drowned • His body was not found• 3 days later, he returned to the

village but remained silent for a day

• When he finally spoke, he proclaimed: • “There is not Hindu and no Muslim so whose path shall I follow? I shall follow God’s path. God is neither Hindu nor Muslim and the path which I follow is God’s.”

• After this, Nanak spent his life traveling preaching his own teachings

• Guru Nanak was aware that he was about to die and decided to settle a dispute regarding the proper disposal of his body

• His Hindu followers intended to cremate him• His Muslim followers planned to bury him• Nanak instructed both groups that when he died, the

Hindus should lay flowers at his right side, and the Muslims at his left

• Those whose flowers were still fresh in the morning were to do as they wished with his body

• The Guru then covered himself with a sheet in preparation for death

• When the sheet was removed after he died, the body was gone, and the flower on both sides were still fresh• Today Sikhs generally cremate their dead

• Guru Nanak remains the most prominent and revered of the 10 Gurus of Sikhism

• His successors contributed significantly to the development of the religion

• Guru Arjan • Guru Gobind

Singh

• The 5th Guru• Compiled the Adi Granth –

giving Sikhism its sacred scripture

• He also constructed the great Temple of God- the Golden Temple- at Amritsar • which provided the Sikhs with

a geographical center. • The Temple has four doors,

representing Sikhism’s openness to people of all four classes of the caste system

• Arjan’s involvement in political affairs led Sikhism to take on a military dimension

• Arjan was a worldly leader as well as a spiritual one

• Arjan’s worldly ambitions resulted in his imprisonment and death by torture

• Before Arjan died, he presented his son with two swords representing spiritual and worldly power: “maintain an army to the best of his ability”

• He is the last of the 10 Gurus

• He is revered as the greatest Guru after Nanak

• He instituted the Khalsa• The Pure Ones• An order within Sikhism

based on the principle of loyalty exhibited by the beloved five

• All male members were given the additional name Singh meaning “lion”.

• All women were named Kaur meaning “princess”

• He installed the Adi Granth as Guru ending the lines of human Gurus

• During a period of great unrest and violent confrontations between Sikhs and Muslims, Guru Gobind Singh instituted the Khalsa

• Guru Gobind Singh perceived a desperate need for loyalty and cohesion among the Sikhs, so he addressed the multitude

• He raised his sword and challenged any Sikh who was willing to die for him to come forward

• An uncomfortable silence followed• One man stepped out of the crowd and followed Guru

Gobind Singh into the leader’s tent• The stunned crowd heard the thud of a falling sword• Then the Guru emerged alone with bloodstained

sword in hand• Another man stepped forward and the process was

repeated• Three men followed in turn• The crown waited in silence• Eventually Guru Gobind Singh emerged with all five

men alive and well• The bodies of five decapitated goats lay beside them• These men became the original members of the

Khalsa

• The Khalsa is the special Sikh military order

• The five practices were originally adopted by members of the Khalsa to promote strength and self-identity

1. Kesh: uncut hair and beard, in association with the lion and its power. The hair on the head is usually worn in a topknot and covered with a turban or cloth

2. Khanga: hair comb- to hold the long hair in place

3. Kach: special underwear- to indicate alertness and readiness to fight

4. Kirpan: sword- for defense5. Kara: bracelet of steel- to

symbolize strength

• Ceremony of initiation• 14 years old• Must possess the five Ks• Uncut hair, A comb, Steel wrist guard,

Sword or knife, Pair of shorts• Performed by five people• Reflects upon the first initiation

• Reading from the Adi Granth• Serve nectar made from water and sugar

in an iron kettle and stirred with a two-edged sword

• Prohibited to• Cutting one’s hair• Eating meat that has been improperly

slaughtered• Engaging in extramarital sexual

relations• Use of tobacco