BHATRAS (the term bhatra appears to be a diminutive of the Sanskrit bhatta, a bard), an endogamous and tightly knit group among the Sikhs with peddling and fortunetelling as their principal occupations. More than one story is current about their origin. However, the Bhatras themselves trace it to Baba Changa

CHIEF KHALSA DIWAN. Until the emergence of more radical platforms such as the Sikh League (1919), Shiromam Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (1920) and Shiromani Akali Dal (1920), the Chief Khalsa Diwan, established on 30 October 1902, was the main council of the Sikhs, controlling their religious and educational affairs and raising

DASVANDH or Dasaundh, lit. a tenth part, refers to the practice among Sikhs of contributing in the name of the Guru one-tenth of their earnings towards the common resources of the community. This is their religious obligation a form of seva or humble service so highly valued in the Sikh

GOBINDPURA, village 7 km west of Bareta (29°52`N, 75°42`E) in Mansa district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Tcgh Bahadur as well as to Guru Gobind Singh. Guru Tcgh Bahadur, says the Sdkhi Polhi, arrived here from Bachchhoana on his way to Gaga and further east. Guru Gobind

GRANTHI, from the Sanskrit granthika (a relaier or narrator), is a person who reads the granih, Sanskrit grantha (composition, treatise, book, text). The terms are derived from the Sanskrit grath which means "to fasten, tie or string together, to compose (a literary work)." In Sikh usage, granih refers especially to

GURU KA LANGAR (lit., langar or refectory of the Guru) is a community kitchen run in the name of the Guru. It is usually attached to a gurdwara. Langar, a Persian word, means \'an ahnshouse\', \'an asylum for the poor and the destitute\', \'a public kitchen kept by a

KAR BHET, from Persian kdr (lit. work, labour, occupation) and Hindi bhent (lit. meeting, offering), denotes voluntary offering made by a devotee to the Guru. It has been a common practice especially in India, for one going to make obeisance to a saint, teacher, the deity, or king to

MIRIPIRI, compound of two words, both of Perso Arabic origin, adapted into the Sikh tradition to connote the close relationship within it between the temporal and the spiritual. The term represents for the Sikhs a basic principle which has influenced their religious and political thought and governed their societal structure

RAHIT MARYADA, traditions and rules which govern the distinctive Sikh way of life and determine Sikh belief and practice. Rahit, from the Punjabi verb rahind (to live, to remain), means mode of living while maryada is a Sanskrit word composed of marya (limit, boundary, mark) and add (to give

RAMDASIA SIKHS is how Sikh converts from the community working professionally in leather are usually referred to as a class. The term Ramdasias is an adaptation from Ravidasias, as some Chamar castes came to be called. They owed their affiliation to the famous saint, Ravidas, ; pioneer of`Vaisnava revival.

SAN GAT, Punjabi form of the Sanskrit term sarigti, means company, fellowship, association. In Sikh vocabulary, the word has a special connotation. It stands for the body of men and women met religiously, especially in (lie presence of the Guru Granth Sahib. Two other expressions carrying the same connotation

SEVA, from Sanskrit root sev (to serve, wait or attend upon, honour, or worship), is usually translated as `service` or `serving` which commonly relates to work paid for, but does not convey the sense in which the term is used in the Sikh tradition. The word seva has, in