BAGHDAD (33° 20\'N, 44° 30\'E), capital of Iraq, situated on the banks of Dajala (Tigris) River, has a historical shrine dedicated to Guru Nanak, who visited here on his way back from Mecca and Madina early in the sixteenth century. Here he held discourses with some local

SAHIB GANJ (2513N, 87"38`E), a town in Santhal Pargana district of Bihar, was visited by Guru Tegh Bahadur in 1666. He is said to have stayed here at the Old Nanak Shahi Sangat, commemorating Guru Nanak`s visit in the early sixteenth century. The Sangat still exists. The Guru Granth Sahib

DHAKA (23 43N, 90 24` E), an old city now capital of Bangladesh, situated on the north bank of Burhi Ganga river, has shrines sacred to Guru Nanak and Guru Tegh Bahadur. Three such gurdwaras commemorating the visits of the Gurus to the city existed until the partition of the

SOBHA SINGH (1901-1986), painter, famous especially for his portraits of the Gurus, was born on 29 November 1901 in a Ramgarhia family of Sri Hargobindpur, in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab. His father, Deva Singh, had been in the Indian cavalry. At the age of 15, Sobha

MAHALA, traditionally pronounced mahalla, appears in Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, as a special term to credit the authorship of the compositions of the Gurus recorded in it. Mahala here refers to the person of the Guru specified by a numeral following it which signifies his position in the

PANJ GRANTHI, a pothi or small book containing five chosen texts, from the Guru Granth Sahib. The word panj means `five` and grantht is the diminutive form from granth (holy book). The Guru Granth Sahib is a large volume and can be enthroned and opened for recitation only in the

RAM CHAND, DIWAN (1819-1888), son of Ratan Chand and grandson of Nanak Chand, the brother of Diwan Savan Mall, Governor of Multan under Ranjit Singh, was only twelve when he succeeded, in 1831, his grandfather as revenue collector of Multan and Kashmir. Soon Maharaja Ranjit Singh appointed him chancellor,

SAIDO, BHAI, a Gheho Jatt, worshipper of Khwaja Khizr, a mythical Muslim saint, became a disciple of Guru Nanak. According to Puratan Janam Sakhi, he accompanied Guru Nanak during his journey to the South. While in Ceylon, Guru Nanak is said to have uttered Pran Sangali, a metrical composition

SIDH GOSTI, i.e. dicourse or dialogue with the Siddhas or mystics adept in hatha yoga and possessing supernatural powers, is the title of one of Guru Nanak`s longer compositions recorded in the Guru Granth Sahib. A goshti (gostln) seeks to expound the respective doctrines of scholars or saints participating

SUNN, a Punjabi form of the Sanskrit term sunya (Pali, sunna), is derived from the root svi which is connected with the root su; both these roots mean `to swell`, `to expand` or `to increase`. From the etymological standpoint the term sunya is often used in the sense of

VAIROKE, village 3 km west of Lopoke, in Amritsar district of the Punjab, claims a historical shrine sacred to Guru Nanak, who once visited it during his travels through these parts. According to local tradition, the Guru, sitting here on a dead her tree trunk discoursed with a Muslim faqir,

AI PANTH, one of the twelve sects of yogis, whose adherents worship Ai Bhavani, a tribal female deity, believed to be an extension of Sakti. Siva in the form of ardhanarisvara is said to have two forms represented by his own halves. His right side is the male whose followers