AKIL DAS, an eighteenth century head of the Handali sect of Jandiala in Amritsar district of the Punjab, also known as Haribhagat Niranjania, was an inveterate enemy of the Sikhs. Giani Gian Singh, Shamsher Khalsa, describes him as "Akul Das who basked in the name of Haribhagat." He was

ANCESTORS,In ancient Hindu scriptures, the honouring of human ancestors is commanded. Pitri or mass\'s to one\'s ancestors arc regarded as sacred funeral rights and Sradh (offerings of food) are considered obligatory for placating the spirits of the departed ancestors up to thee seventh generation. It is believed that the

DALIP SINGH, SANT (1883-1948), son of Ishar Singh and Har Kaur, was born in 1883 at the village ofLahri, in Hoshiarpur district. He was hardly five years old, when his father died. He was brought up by his maternal grandfather, Nihal Singh, at his village Dumeli. He received his early

DHIAN SINGH (d. 1705), a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Gobind Singh. He was one of the warriors who took part in the battle against Said Khan. He fell a martyr in the battle of Chamkaur (7 December 1705). M.G.S. DHIAN SINGH, resident of the village of

DIAL DAS, son of Gaura and grandson of the celebrated Bhai Bhagatu, lived at Bhuchcho, now in Bathinda district of the Punjab, at the time of Guru Gobind Singh`s journey through those parts in 1706. At the village of Bhagu, Dial Das took the rites of amrit at the

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

JODHA, BHAI, wa.sanrfat Tulaspur (location obscure) during the time of Guru Arjan, was reputed for his probity. He collected the offerings from Sikhs and presented them to the Guru at Amritsar without spending from these a penny on himself. To quote Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhdn di Bhagat Maid, he,

The Lord destroyed Jarasandha and Kalayavana; The Lord also killed Raktavija and Kala-Nem (Kala-Nemi). (Gaurt M. l, p. 224) Kalanemi was the uncle of the demon-king Ravana of Lanka. When Hanuman proceeded towards Himalayas in search of the medicinal herb for reviving Lakshmana, Ravana wanted him to be killed.

PANGAT, from Sanskrit pankti (lit. a row, line, series, or a group, assembly, company), stands in Sikh terminology for commensality or sitting together on the ground in a row to partake of food from a common kitchen regardless of caste, creed, sex, age or social status. Pangat is thus a