ANANDU, noncanonically spelt Anand, by Guru Amar Das, is like Guru Nanak`s Japu, one of the more familiar texts in the Guru Granth Sahib. Set in the Ramkali musical measure and comprising forty stanzas, Anand is recited liturgically, especially in its shortened form, at the conclusion of all congregational services

Bara Maha Majh (Song of Twelve Months in Majh Raga) is a composition of Guru Arjan Dev,the fifth in the line of the ten Gurus or prophet-teachers of the Sikh faith. Guru Arjan Dev\'s poetry has the imprint of chaste classical culture, despite its limitation today, being in a

GUJARI KI VAR, a composition in the form of folk balladry or a vdr, by Guru Arjan included in the Guru Granth Sahib under Gujari rdga, one of the thirty-one musical measures into which hymns in the Scripture are cast. The poem comprises twenty-one pauns or stanzas, with two

PATTI, lit. a wooden tablet on which children learn to write the alphabet, is the name given to two hymns, in the Guru Granth Sahib, composed in the form of an acrostic, employing letters of the Gurmukhi alphabet. Pattt by Guru Nanak titled Rdgu Asd Mahald IPatfiLikhi comprises thirty-five

SKETCH OF THE SIKHS, subtitled "A Singular Nation who inhabit the Province of the Punjab situated between the Rivers Jumna and Indus," by Lt.Col. John Malcolm, was originally published in the Asiatick Researches in 1810, and was published in book form in 1812 and reprinted in 1981 by Vinay

ANJULIA (N), by Guru Arjan, is a short composition comprising two hymns entered in the Guru Granth Sahib under Maru musical measure (GG, 1019). This word anjulia (n) is the plural form of Sanskrit anjuli which means the joining together of palms in supplication, reverence or salutation. The word

CHANDI CHARITRA, title of two compositions by Guru Gobind Singh in his Dasam Granth, the Book of the Tenth Master, describing in Braj verse the exploits of goddess Chandi or Durga. One of these compositions is known as Chandi Charitra Ukti Bilas whereas the second has no qualifying extension

GUNVANTI, lit. a woman of becoming qualities, is the title of one of Guru Arjan`s compositions, in measure Suhi, in the Guru Granth Sahib (GG, 763). It follows Guru Nanak`s Kuchajl (lit. an awkward, illmannered woman) and Suchaji (lit. a woman of good manner). The term gunvanti is figuratively used

PIPA, one of whose hymns is incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib, was a prince who renounced his throne in search of spiritual solace. He was born at Gagaraun, in present day Jhalawar district of Rajasthan, about AD 1425. He was a devotee of the goddess Bhavani whose idol

SLOKAS OF SHAIKH FARID. Baba Shaikh Farid GanjiShakar (1173-1264), the famous Sufi saint born in the Punjab, some of whose compositions are included in the Guru Granth Sahib, was a poet whose Punjabi verses form the first recorded poetry in the Punjabi language. Guru Nanak himself seems to have

ASA KI VAR, as recorded in the index to the Guru Granth Sahib, but commonly designated Asa di Var, lit. an ode (var) in the musical measure Asa, is a composition by Guru Nanak sung by musicians at Sikh congregations as part of the early morning service. Asa is

CHANDI DJ VAR (the Ballad of goddess Chandi) or, to give it its exact title, Var Sri Bhagauti Ji Ki, by Guru Gobind Singh and included in the Dasam Granth, is the story of the titan tic contest between Chandi and other gods on the one hand and the