BANDAI, name given to the followers of the Sikh hero, Banda Singh Bahadur (1670-1716), who regarded him not only as a military leader but also as Guru next to Guru Gobind Singh in spiritual succession. They were opposed and ultimately expelled in 1721 by the mainstream of the Sikhs,

BARNA, village in Kurukshetra district of Haryana, about 20 km southwest of Kurukshetra (29° 58`N, 76° 50`E), is sacred to Guru Tegh Bahadur who once stopped here while journeying from Kaithal to Kurukshetra. Local tradition recalls the story of a peasant who waited upon him and to survey whose

BEGA, BHAI, or Bhai Vega. a Pasi Khatri of the village of Dalla, now in Kapurthala district of the Punjab. His name appears among pious and devoted Sikhs of the time of Guru Amar Das in Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 16. He was among the Sikhs who waited upon

BHAGO, MAI, the sole survivor of the battle of Khidrana, i.e. Muktsar (29 December 1705), was a descendant of Pero Shah, the younger brother of Bhai Langah, a Dhillon Jatt who had converted a Sikh during the time of Guru Arjan. Born at her ancestral village of Jhabal in

BHANA, lit. liking, pleasure, will, wish or approval, is one of the key concepts in Sikh thought. In Sikhism, it refers specifically to God`s will and pleasure. Raza , an Arabic term popular in the context of various schools of Sufi thought, also appears frequently in the Sikh texts to

BHARU, BHAI, a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Ram Das mentioned by Bhai Gurdas in his Varan, XI. 17. See PADARATH, BHAI

BHIRAI, MATA, the maternal grandmother of Guru Nanak, was married to Rama of the village of Chahal, near Lahore. See RAMA. BABA

BILGA, village 14 km west of Phillaur(31°1`N, 75°47`E) in the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Arjan, who passed through it in June 1589 on his way to Mau where he got married. According to local tradition, Bilga was then a small settlement of only a few huts. The Guru changed

BUDDHA. BABA (1506-1631), a most venerated primal figure of early Sikhism, was born on 6 October 1506 at the village of Katthu Narigal, 18 km northeast of Amritsar (31° 36\'N, 74° 50\'E). Bura, as he was originally named, was the only son of Bhai Suggha, a Jatt of Randhava

BUTALA, a village 7 km northeast of Baba Bakala (31°34`N, 75°16`E) in Amritsar district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Hargobind who, according to local tradition, visited here on 15 Phagun 1665 Bk/10 February 1609. The inhabitants of Butala, with the exception of an old lady and her

BABHIKHAN (VIBHISHANA) (The Gurmukh) Rama killed the egoist Ravana, the knowledge given by the Guru was like the secrets told by Vibhishana. (Ramkali M. l, Siddh Goshta, p. 942) The Lord bestowed kingship on Babhikhan (Vibhishana) for a long time. (Maru Namdev, p.105) Vibhishana was the younger brother of

CHALI MUKTE, lit. forty (chalf) liberated ones (mukte), is how a band of 40 brave Sikhs who laid down their lives fighting near the dhab or lake of Khidrana, also called Isharsar, on 29 December 1705 against a Mughal force in chase of Guru Gobind Singh are remembered in Sikh