 The Ten Gurus |
the founder of the Sikh religion,
was born in the village
of Talwandi and was by profession an accountant. At the age of thirty
while bathing in the River Bein he underwent a profound spiritual experience.
During this experience, the voice of god commanded him to "rejoice in the name of god" and to teach others
to do the same. After three days in the river, Nanak gave away all his
material possessions and began traveling on pilgrimages teaching people,
as he went along, and establishing centers of worship. He and his followers
eventually settled in Kartarpur.
improved upon the old Punjabi script which evolved into
Gurmukhi. Guru Nanak himself chose Angad to be his successor instead of
his own son.Guru Angad's sixty-two hymns are
included in the Guru Granth Sahib.
was over seventy years old when he was selected as the
third guru. Guru Amar Das' contribution came in the social reforms he advocated
particularly in regard to the emancipation of women, from purdah (female isolation)and sutti(widow burning.)
the fourth guru who established what would
become the center of the Sikh world, namely the temple at Armritsar. Guru Ram
Das made Armritsar his headquarters and completed excavation of the
pool around the temple. He commenced the construction of the Har Mandir or Temple of
God in its midst. Ram Das developed the Sikh tithing system, but his most
important work involved the compilation of the Sikh sacred texts, or
the Guru Granth. His wedding hymn the lavan
forms the focus of the Sikh marriage ceremony even till today.
the fifth guru was the son of Ram Das. In his time, a political rift
between the ruling Mughuls and Sikhs transformed Sikhism into a militant religion. Guru Arjan continued the work of Ram Das in the compilation of the Guru Granth Sahib.
He added his own contributions which consist of over two thousand entries. Guru Arjan then built the Golden Temple
to house the Guru Granth Sahib
the sixth guru, was the son of Arjan and the grandson of Ram Das.
The growing militancy of Sikhism against the Mughuls is reflected in the
symbols of Sikhism that emerged from this period. Guru Har Gobind
authorized the use of steel in the defense of dharmaor community of Sikhs, and to protect
oppressed peoples. Guru Har Gobind himself wore two swords: Piriand the
miri--one signifying the temporal, the other the spiritual authority of the guru.
sent his son to Aurangzeb's court when the emperor voiced his
disapproval over some lines in the Sikh sacred texts, whereupon, Guru Har
Rai's son Ram conceded to making changes to the offending lines.
In Har Rai's eyes, however, his son had proved unworthy of succeeding him
by buckling under to the emperor. Har Rai then passed the "guru-ship" to his
five year old son Har Krishnan.
 The Boy Guru Har Krishnan |
short life was marked by courage and devotion.
He showed considerably more mettle than his
older brother by refusing to see emperor Aurangzab when the latter summoned him to
court.
the ninth guru was the youngest son of Guru Hargobind the sixth guru. In his youth he fought alongside his father at the battle of Kartarpur in 1634.
For many years after he sought a life of meditation and renunciation of the world. Because of this he was frequently referred to as
Tyag Mal or the master who has renounced the world. Following the untimely death of the boy-guru Har Krishnan, a great deal of confusion followed
regarding the succession. Tegh Bahadur was finally found in a remote village deep in meditation. Once he became the guru, Tegh Bahadur embarked on several missionary journeys.
At every stop he dug wells and established community kitchens. He came to be regarded as "the true king," a fact that enraged the Mughul. Guru Tegh Bahadur
was captured and tortured cruelly by Aurangzeb and eventually publicly beheaded.
is perhaps the most important of the
the ten gurus. In his time, tensions with the Mughul became so great that it
was inevitable that Sikhism would become increasingly more militant.
Guru Gobind Singh instituted the baptism ceremony pahul as a ritual that would psychologically
bind Sikh followers with a greater sense of unity. The first baptism was performed on Baisakhi Day in 1669 and Guru Gobind Singh
baptised five of his followers who were known as Panj Piyare, the Five Beloved Ones.
These were five individuals who had vowed to lay their live down for the Guru and
dharma. They formed a new elite which the Guru named the Khalsa Waheguru
or God's Own.
of their commitment to Sikhism:
| KES | long hair |
| KANGHAR | comb |
| KACHHAR | a pair of shorts |
| KARA | steel bracelets |
| KARPAN | short dagger |
Symbolically, the Guru
Granth Sahib would stand for the ten gurus.
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