SIKHISM

Guru Nanak (born in 1469) was a religious reformer who founded Sikhism as  a faith. In 1604, the fifth Guru, Arjan Dev compiled the hymns of Guru Nanak, the Adi Granth which also included compositions of Indian saints--Hindu, Muslim and Harijan--Jaidev, Surdas, Farid, Namdev, Kabir and Ravidas. The Granth was enshrined by Guru Arjan in the Golden Temple, Amritsar in 1604. The tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh organized the community into a Khalsa--the Pure. He asked his followers to wear long hair (kesh, denoting saintly appearance), underwear (kachha, denoting self-control), iron bangle (kara, denoting purity in acts), comb (kangha, denoting cleanliness of mind and body), sword (kirpan, denoting fight for a just cause). His gospel of love was: "Before the Lord, there is no one high or low". Guru Gobind's Granth Sahib is revered as just the Guru, which opens with the lines:

There is one God.
Eternal Truth is His name,
maker of all things,
fearing nothing and at enmity with none,
timeless,
not begotten, being of His own being,
by the grace of the Guru made known to men.

 In 1708, Guru Gobind ordained that the Granth shall be the Guru for the Sikhs for ever. Guru Nanak's birthday is celebrated on the full-moon day of the month of November.

A sikh temple is Gurudwara, the House of Guru. The temple runs a langar or a free community kitchen for pilgrims.

The major shrines of the Sikhs:

• Golden Temple, Amritsar
• Gurudwara Machiwara, Ludhiana
• Gurudwara baba Atal, Amritsar
• Gurudwara Baoli Sahib, Goindawal, Punjab
• Gurudwara Chaubara Sahib, Goindawal
• Gurudwara Tham Sahib, Kartarpur, Punjab
• Gurudwara Majnu ka Tila, Delhi
• Harmandir Sahib, Patna (birth place of Guru Gobind Singh)
• Gurudwara Nanak Jhera, Bidar, Mysore
• Hazur Sahib, Nanded
• Gurdwara Khadur Sahib, Dist. Amritsar (second Guru Angad)
• Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, Pakistan
• Gurdwara Malji Sahib, Pakistan
• Guru Arjun Dev's mausoleum, Lahore
• Maharaja Ranjit Singh's samadhi, Lahore
• Gurdwara Dera Sahib, Lahore
• Gurudwara Mangu Math, Puri
• Nankana Sahib (64kms. from Lahore), Pakistan
• Panja Sahib, Rawalpindi (Guru Nanak)
• Gurudwara Chowk Bazar, Chittagong, Bangladesh
• Nanak Shahi, Dacca
• Gurdwara Sangat Tola, Bangla Bazar (Guru Tegh Bahadur)

The Gurus:

Guru Nanak (1469-1539)
Guru Angad (1504-1552)
Guru Amar Das (1479-1574)
Guru Ram Das (1534-1581)
Guru Arjan (1563-1606)
Guru Har Gobind (1595-1644)
Guru Har Rai (1630-1661)
Guru Har Krishan (1656-1664)
Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621-1675)
Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708)

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