KIRTAN (from Skt. kirii, i.e. to praise, celebrate or glorify), a commonly accepted mode of rendering devotion to God by singing His praises, is a necessary part of Sikh worship. Music plays a significant role in most religious traditions. In Sikhism it is valued as the highest form of expression

SADHARAN PATH is the reading of the Guru Granth Sahib from beginning to end, with no time limit for completion. Even where the limit is fixed and it exceeds a week, it will be called a sadharan path, two other terms synonymously used being khulla path (khulla = unrestricted,

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

BHORA SAHIB GURUDWARA( GURU KA MAHAL),ANANDPUR Here Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib used to sit for meditation and for composing hymns. Residence of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur inherited by Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji; the Sahibzadas the holy sons of the tenth Guru were born here. There is an underground room

If you pray fraudulently in your mind, what is the need of going to Ka\'bah .for a Å«^/ ? (Prabhali Kabir, p. 1350) The Sheikh (Muslim divine) without the quality of sabar (patience)—why should he go to Ka\'bab for a hajj, says Kabir ? The one who has no

SALOP SAHASKRITI, title of a composition comprising seventy-one verses incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib. The term `Sahaskriti` denotes the language form, a mixture of Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit, in which these slokas have been written. `Gatha` is another word used for `Sahaskriti`. Of the seventy-one verses collected under

AMRITSAR (31°38\'N, 74°53\'E), principal holy city of the Sikhs, is the headquarters of a district (Amritsar) in the Punjab. The foundation of the town was laid in 1577 by Guru Ram Das (1534-81) when he inauguarted the digging of the holy tank Amritsar (amrit = nectar, sar = pool)

CHUHAR, BHAI, a Chaujhar Khatri of Lucknow, once travelled to Amritsar to see Guru Hargobind (1595-1644). He, according to Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat MaJa, one day implored the Guru: "Pray, instruct me, Lord, in what constitutes the root of the Sikh faith." "Humility is its root," spoke

LAVAN is the title traditionally given a short fourslan/a composition by Guru Ram Das included under rdga Suhi (p. 773) in the Guru Granth Sahib. The word Idvdn, in the Indian tradition, also stands for the marriage ceremony: in Hindu society the couple reverentially circumambulates the holy fire to

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

AKHAND PATH (akhand = uninterrupted, without break; path = reading) is nonstop, continuous recital of the Guru Granth Sahib from beginning to end. Such a recital must be completed within 48 hours. The entire Holy Volume, 1430 large pages, is read through in a continuous ceremony. This reading must

DAN (Skt. dana from the root da `to give`) means the act of giving or that which is given either as charity or alms or as offering, fee or reward for spiritual instruction received or for religious rite or ritual performed. The latter, however, is more appropriately called daksina.