DHARAMSALA or dharamsala from Sanskrit dharmasala, lit. court of justice, tribunal, charitable asylum, religious asylum, stands in Punjabi for a place of worship or the village hospice. Dharamsala as a Sikh institution is the precursor of gurdwara (q.v.). According to janam sakhis, accounts of the life of Guru Nanak (1469-1539).

KAMAL, also wrinen as kanvalm Punjabi, is a flower, lotus, bearing the richest symbolic and philosophical significance in Indian lore. Its use in Indian romantic and spiritual literature goes back to ancient times. It carries, in Sanskrit, a multiplicity of names such as saroj, jalaj, vdrij, mraj (grown in

PANJOKHARA,   a village about 10 km from Ambala city (30° 23`N, 76° 47`E), is sacred to Guru Har Krishan. Gurdwara Sri Guru Har Krishan Sahib Ji, about 150 metres east of the village and commonly called Gurdwara Parijokhara Sahib, commemorates his stay here in early 1664. Summoned by Emperor Aurarigzib,

TALVARA, locally known as RampurTalvara because of its close proximity to a village called Rampur, lies near Sri Hargobindpur (31041`N, 75029`E) in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab. It claims a historical shrine, Gurdwara Damdama Sahib, dedicated to Guru Hargobind, who is said to have preached here after the batttle

BIR, a term used for a recension or copy of the Guru Granth Sahib, is derived from Skt. verb vid meaning "to make strong or firm, strengthen, fasten, or to be strong, firm or hard." The Punjabi verb birana which means "to fix, bind or fasten (something) firmly, or to

Aris Daya Singh (1894 - 1946) was popular writer of devotional and didactic verses. He belonged to a backard rural family of farm labourers called Mazhabi Sikhs. Having been thrased by his poor father, Santa Singh, because of his pursuit of learning, left home and started living as a

KHALSA DIWAN AMRITSAR, established at Amritsar on 11 April 1883 to oversee and provide direction to the work of the Singh Sabha. This reform movement had originated in Amritsar with the formation of the first Singh Sabha on 1 October 1873. Singh Sabhas began springing up in other places,

PISHACHAS There are millions of Jakhyas (Yakshas), Kinnaras and Pisachas (Pishachas). (Gauri Sukhmani M. 5, p. 276) Pishachas are friends and evil spirits. Vedas consider them lower than Rakshasas. They hare ill-natured spiteful and mischievous beings. It is said that they were created by Brahma alongwith other demons. They

THARA SAHIB, an half-a-metre high and 5-metre square marble-paved platform stands in the open space in front of Damdama Sahib. It was here that Guru Tegh Bahadur received the group of Kashmiri Pandits who called on him in 1675.

AGAUL, village 10 km from Nabha (30°22\'N, 76°9\'E) in Patiala district, has a historical shrine called Gurudwara Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib. In the course of a journey through this area, Guru Tegh Bahadur came and sat here under a pipal tree on the bank of a pond. The

BIR MRIGESH, full title SRI BIR MRIGESH GURBILAS DEV TARU, is a voluminous nineteenth century work by Bhai Sher Singh, a disciple of Baba Khuda Singh (1786-1861), who completed it in 1911. In bold Gurmukhi typography, the book runs to 1912 pages, divided into two parts comprising 847 and 1065

DIWAN KHANA GURUDWARA, LAHORE:This Gurdwara is situated near Chuni Mandi chowk, close to the birth place of Guru Ram Das ji. The Guru\'s ancestors belonged to Lahore. At the time of the marriage of one the sons his elder brother, Sahari Mal, the Guru asked his son (Guru) Arjan Dev