guru

HARl DAS, BHAI, along with Bhai Lalu and Bhai Balu, Vij Khatris, once visited Guru Arjan and requested to be initiated. Before initiation, the Guru, according to Bhai Santokh Singh, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth, instructed them thus: "Shed pride, attachment and malice, and do not think ill of others. Meet other Sikhs with a cheer and greet them with affection. Remember the fivefold path speak politely; be humble; eat only out of what you earn by your honest labour; treat others with love; and share your victuals with them.

HAYAT KHAN (d. 1688), one of the disbanded officials of the Mughal army who, along with five hundred Pathan soldiers, was recruited by Guru Gobind Singh at Paonta Sahib, on the recommendation of Pir Buddhu Shah of Sadhaura. On the eve of the battle of Bharigani, he however deserted the Guru and joined the hill chiefs against him. Hayat Khan was challenged in the battle by Kirpal, the m,ahant or head of the Udasi sddhus. Kirpal killed Hayat Khan with his heavy club. The feat is described by Guru Gobind Singh in a vivid image in his Bachitra Natak.

GURDWARA HOLGARH SAHIB stands on the site of Holgarh Fort, one and a half km north-west of the town across the Charan Gariga rivulet. It was here that Guru Gobind Singh introduced in the spring of 1701, the cel-ebration of hola on the day following the Hindu festival of colour-throwing, holi. Unlike the playful sprinkling of colours as is done during holi, the Guru made hola an occasion for Sikhs to demonstrate skills-al-arms in simulated battle. Hola or Hola Mahalla, became thereafter an annual tour-ney of warlike sports in Anaiidpur as long as the Guru stayed there.

JAGATA, a Brahman Sikh appointed masand to look after the Sikhs in Lahore, presented himself at Anandpur in 1698 in response to the general summons from Guru Gobind Singh for all sangat leaders in different parts to come and explain their conduct in view of complaints received against them.Jagata humbly pleaded innocence and apologized for any inadvertent lapse. The Guru trusted his word and asked him to continue serving thenceforth under the direction of Bhai Pheru.

JANAM SAKHI, i.e. life story, is the term used to designate traditional narratives of the life of Guru Nanak. Although the compound is occasionally applied to narratives concerning later Gurus or other religious teachers too, it is normally confined to those which relate in anecdotal prose the life and teachings of the First Master. Several janam sdkhi traditions have evolved, particularly during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

JATPURA, village adjacent to Lammari, 14 km from Raikot (30°39`N, 75°37`E) in Ludhiana district on the Guru Gobind Singh Marg, is believed to have been visitct. by Guru Hargobind during his sojourn in the Malva country in 1631-32. Gurdwara Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Band! Chhor commemorates that visit. It consists of a rectangular hall witli a verandah on three sides and a domed room on the first floor. A residential room and the Guru ka Larigar arc at the back. The Gurdwara is managed by Sant Ajaib Singh of Boparai, who also controls Gurdwara Guru Sar Panjauana at Lamman.

JHORAR, a village still flanked on two sides by arid mounds of shifting sands, 6 km northeast of Bara Gudha railway station (29"43`N, 75"1`E), in Sirsa district of Haryana, is sacred to Guru Gobind Singh, who made a brief halt here while travelling from Talvandi Sabo towards Sirsa in the winter of 1706. Gurdwara Patshahi X, constructed in the 1950`s, is a flat roofed hall, within a lowwallcd compound. It is maintained by the village sanga.l.

JOTI BIGAS is the joint title of two poetic compositions, one in Persian and the other in Punjabi, by Bhai Nand Lal Goya, a devoted Sikh of Guru Gobind Singh, much revered in Sikh piety and in letters. Bhai Nand Lal`s verse is classed as approved Sikh canon and can be recited at religious assemblies along with the hymns of the Gurus. Both the works included mJoti Bigds are in the nature of a fervent homage to the Gurus, all ten of whom are acclaimed as sharing the same light, the same voice speaking through ten bodies. The work in Punjabi comprises forty-three couplets whereas the one in Persian has 175 couplets.

KALAUR, 9 km east of Bassi Pathanari (30°42`N, ^^`E) in Fatehgarh Sahib district, claims a historical shrine dedicated to Guru Tegh Bahadur. A raised platform was constructed on the top of the ruined mound in the village to commemorate the visit of Guru Tegh Bahadur who made a brief halt here on his way from Kiratpur into the plains of the Malva. This was later replaced by a Mariji Sahib. The present building was constructed only in 1968.

KARAM SINGH, BHAI (1885-1922), who died a martyr in the Panja Sahib episode, was the son of Bhat Bhagvan Singh, a priest of Takht Kesgarh, at Anandpur Sahib. He was born on 14 November 1885 and given the name of Sant Singh. He received instruction in the Sikh sacred lore and in devotional music from his father and grew up to be an accomplished singer of the holy hymns. At the time of the Guru ka Bagh agitation in 1922, Karam Singh and his wife, Kishan Kaur, went on a pilgrimage to Gurdwara Panja Sahib where he so impressed the sahgat with his kirtan that the Gurdwara committee employed him permanently as one of the choir.