BALVAND, RAI, a rababi or rebeck player in the time of Guru Arjan and co-composer with Satta, said to be his brother, of a Var included in the Guru Granth Sahib in the Ramkali musical measure. He was by birth a mirasi, Muslim minstrel and genealogist, and sang the sacred

BHIRAI, MAI, spelt by some chroniclers also as Bharai and Virai, who belonged to Matte di Sarai, the birthplace of Guru Arigad (1504-52), was married to Bhai Mahima, a Khahira Jatt of Khadur (Sahib) in Amritsar district of the Punjab. She was like a sister to Bhai Pheru Mall, the

CHUNG TONG, a small village on the bank of the River Teesta in Sikkim, 168 km north of the nearest railhead, Siliguri, has recently been discovered to have a connection with early Sikh history. Local tradition there refers to the visit of Guru Nanak (1469-1539) to the place during his

DASVANDH or Dasaundh, lit. a tenth part, refers to the practice among Sikhs of contributing in the name of the Guru one-tenth of their earnings towards the common resources of the community. This is their religious obligation a form of seva or humble service so highly valued in the Sikh

GURDAS, BHAI (1551-1636), much honoured in Sikh learning and piety, was a leading figure in early Sikhism who enjoyed the partronage of Guru Arjan under whose supervision he inscribed the first copy of Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, which is still extant. He was born in a Bhalla

JANAM SAKHI derives its name from the number attached to the manuscript in the catalogue of the India Office Library, London (MS. Panj B40). It consists of a unique collection of sakhis or anecdotes concerning the life of Guru Nanak, and, although it sliares common sources with the Puratan and

MACHHINDARNATHA (Matsyendranatha), also known as Minanatha, i.e. Fish-Lord, Minapa, Luipa (in Tibet), and Avilokitesvara (in Nepal), who flourished in the 10th century AD, was one of the eighty-four siddhas or Perfect ones of Tantric Buddhism. According to Tibetan-Buddhist belief, he was a fisherman who, while devoured alive by a

MULTAN (SO012`N, 71°31`E), ancient city which had been a prominent centre of Muslim piety, was where according to Bhai Gurdas, Varan I. 4445, Guru Nanak met with some local Sufi saints. Travelling from Kartarpur, on the River Ravi, Guru Nanak first went to Achal Batala and thence to Multan. As

Nankayan (Life of Nanak) by Mohan Singh \'Mahir\' is commissioned work written at the behest of Punjabi University to mark the 500th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. Professor \'Mahir\' earned this distinction after he wrote Nankayan (Nankayan). He has yet another distinction of ushering in what has come to be

PEHLI PATSHAHI GURUDWARA, LAHORE : This historical place is situated just inside Delhi Darwaza near old Kotwali Chowk in Sirianwala Bazaar (Lahore). All the gates of the city lead to this historic place. In 1510 A.D. (1567 B.K.), Guru Nanak, while redeeming the world from sins, reached the house of

SADHARAN, BHAI, a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Nanak, was a resident of Pakkhoke, near Dera Baba Nanak. According to Bhai Santokh Singh, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth, in serving the Guru, Sadharan was next only to Guru Angad. He waited on Guru Nanak during the latter`s

SHABAD (SABAD) HAJARE, also called Hajare de Sabad, is a collection of seven hymns taken from the Guru Granth Sahib and grouped together for the purpose of daily recitation. The title Shabad Hajare occurs nowhere in the Guru Granth Sahib, though it has found its way into breviaries (gutkas)