VADDA GHALLUGHARA, lit. major holocaust or carnage, so called to distinguish it from another similar disaster, Chhota (minor) Ghallughara that took place in 1746, is how a one day battle between the Dal Khalsa and Ahmad Shah Durrani fought on 5 February 1762 with a heavy toll of life is

VADDA GHAR, village 19 km southwest of Moga (30"48`N, 75"10`E) in the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Hargobind, who arrived here from Darauli in 1634 staying here for five days before setting out on an extensive journey across the Malva region. A memorial platform was later constructed on the site

VADHAVA SINGH, BHAl (d. 1924), son of Bhai Jhanda Singh, Gill Jatt, and Mat Dharam Kaur of village Gharik. He was the only son of his parents. He never married. He was illiterate, and had strong religious inclinations. At the age of 40, he took the vows of the Khalsa

VAHIGURU, also spelt and pronounced Vahguru, is the distinctive name of the Supreme Being in the Sikh dispensation, like Yahweh in Judaism and Allah in Islam. In Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, the term does not figure in the compositions of the Gurus, though it occurs therein, both as

VAHIGURU JI KA KHALSA VAHIGURU JI KI FATEH, form of Sikh salutation, was made current among the Sikhs by command of Guru Gobind Singh at the time of the manifestation of the Khalsa in 1699. The salutation used in the days of Guru Nanak was Sati Kartar (Hail the

VAHIGURU SHABDARTH TIKA (Vahiguru= Sikh term for God ; 6abdarth=sabda or word+arth or meaning), by Pandit Tara Singh Narotam, is small tract which traces the origin of the word Vahigurii, its meanings and its usage in Sikh scriptures. The tract has been published as part of the author`s Gurmat Nirnaya

VAIRAG, usually bairagor sometimes virag`in Punjabi, is derived from Sanskrit vairagya meaning "change or loss of colour, growing pale ; disgust, aversion, distaste for or loathing of ; freedom from all worldly desire, indifference to worldly objects or to life ; asceticism," or analysed as vi (prefix denoting disunion, separation,

VAIROKE, village 3 km west of Lopoke, in Amritsar district of the Punjab, claims a historical shrine sacred to Guru Nanak, who once visited it during his travels through these parts. According to local tradition, the Guru, sitting here on a dead her tree trunk discoursed with a Muslim faqir,

VAK, from Sanskrit vaka (sounding, speaking ; a text, recitation or formula) or vakya (speech, saying, statement, declaration, a sentence or period), has a special connotation in the Sikh system. In Sikh terminology, Vak means the command or lesson read from the Guru Granth Sahib. Vak laina or hukam laina

VALLA, village 7 km east of Amritsar (31°38`N, 74°53`E) along the Amritsar Sri Hargobindpur road, is sacred to Guru Tegh Bahadur, who visited here in November 1664. According to Bhai Santokh Singh, Sri Gur Pratap Sura/` Granth, the Guru had come on a visit to the Harimandar, Amritsar, but

VANDAR, named after the Jatt clan who inhabits it, is a village 22 km southeast of Kot Kapura (30°35`N, 74°49`E) in Moga district of the Punjab. It has a historical gurdwara dedicated to Guru Gobind Singh, who made a brief halt here on his way from Dina to Kot

VANJARA SIKHS or Banjaras, akin to Labana Sikhs of the Punjab, are found scattered throughout Central and South India as well as in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Although vanjara, from Sanskrit vanij (a merchant, trader), is now used as a generic term for peddlers in the Punjab, the Vanjaras during