AMRITDHARI (amrit, lit. nectar, commonly Sikh sanctified initiatory water + dhan= practitioner) is one who has received baptismal vows of the Khalsa initiated by Guru Gobind Singh (30 March 1699) and abides by them and by the panj kakari rahit, distinctive insignia introduced by the Guru on that day

BANARASI, MATA, grandmother of Guru Nanak and mother of Baba Kalu or Kalian Rai, was the wife of Shiv Ram, resident of Talvandi Rai Bhoi Ki, now called Nankana Sahib. She was the mother of two sons, Kalu and Lalu. See SHIV RAM, BABA

JASWANT SINGH, BHAGAT (1881-1967), prominent in the Gurdwara Reform movement of 1920-25, was born at Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, on 15 Poh 1938 Bk/27 December 1881, the son of Chaudhari Sayan Singh. After matriculating from Mission School, Rawalpindi, he passed his B.A. examination from Gordon College, Rawalpindi. In 1921,

KANIPHA or Karnaripa, one of the 84 Gorakhpanthi siddhas (exalted personages believed to have attained occult powers and immortality through the practice of yoga), is mentioned in Bald Janam Sdkhi as a participant in the Siddhas` discourse with Guru Nanak during the latter`s visit to Mount Sumer.

MATHURA (27°28`N, 77°40`E), an ancient city on the right bank of the River Yamuna, 150 km south south-east of Delhi, possesses three Sikh shrines commemorating the visits of Guru Nanak and Guru Tegh Bahadur. GURDWARA GAU GHAT is a small shrine on the riverbank controlled by the Udasis. The

PAKKHOKE RANDHAVE, a village in the east of Dera Baba Nanak (32° 2`N, 75° 2`E) in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab, is the place where Guru Nanak`s wife and children stayed with his fatherinlaw during the Guru`s absence on udasis or preaching journeys. The village has a historical shrine

PAKPATAN, a tahsil town in Sahiwal (Montgomery) district of Pakistan, is known for the tomb of the famous Sufi saint Shaikh Farid ud Din Shakarganj (1173-1266). Guru Nanak visited Pakpatan during his travels through that part of the country. At the time of that visit he fell into a discourse

PAVADARA or Puadhara, village 16 km west of Phillaur (31° 1`N, 75° 47`E) in the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Har Rai who made a halt here while travelling from Kartarpur and Nur Mahal towards the Malva country, across the River Sutlej. The shrine commemorating the visit is named

SAPTAHIK PATH, a path, i.e. reading of the entire Guru Granth Sahib, which is completed in a saptah (week). Any individual, man or woman, or a group of persons by the relay method may perform this path which is commenced seven days ahead of the coming occasion, ceremoney or

SORATHI KI VAR, or Ragu Sorathi Var Mahale Chauthe KI as is the full title recorded at the head of the text in the Guru Granth Sahib contrasting the short title in the index, is one of the eight vars composed by Guru Ram Das. It comprises twenty-nine pauns, i.e.