TANKHAH, from Persian tankhwah, generally meaning pay or salary, has an additional, ironical connotation in Sikh vocabulary. The word in this sense means expiatory penalty levied upon a Sikh from breach of rahit, i.e. the prescribed code of conduct or of a vow religiously made. This use of the

BENARES (BANARASA, VARANASI) .....They have rosaries around their necks and glittering jugs in their hands—they cannot be called the saints of Hari, they are the Thugs of Benares (Varanasi).(Asa Kabir, pp. 476) He lives on the bank of Asi rivulet in Benares (Varanasi). (Gond Namdev, p. 873) It is

KATHA is the noun form of the Sanskrit word kath, meaning to speak, describe, narrate or interpret. In religious terminology, kathd stands for exposition, analysis and discussion of a passage from a scripture. It involves a full length discourse on a given text, with a proper enunciation of it and

RAJ KAREGA KHALSA, lit. "the Khalsa shall rule," a phrase expressive of the will of the Sikh people to sovereignty, is part of the anthem which follows the litany or ardas recited at the end of every religious service of the Sikhs. While the ardas is said by an officiant

TARGA, village 6 km north of Kasurm Lahore district of Pakistan, had historical Sikh shrine, Gurdwara TIsri Patshahi Jhari Sahib, on the western outskirts marking the site where Guru Amar Das, Nanak III, travelling in these parts at the request of devotees living in the nearby Kadivind had once stopped.

CHELLARAM, BHAl (1904-1964), a well known Sahajdhari Sikh of modern times who sang and preached gurbani, the Guru`s inspired word, with a rare love and devotion, was born in a Sindhi family of Hyderabad (Sindh) on 3 May 1904, the son of Dr Tekchand Rachumal Mansukhani and Chettbai. Chellaram`s

KAUR SINGH NIHANG, AKALI (1886-1953), scholar and religious preacher, was the eldest son of Bhai Mahari Singh and Mal Karam Kaur of Paddhar, a small village near Chakar in that part of Jammu and Kashmir which is now under Pakistan`s occupation. Tlic family traced its descent from one TrilokT

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,

TURBAN, derived from the ancient Persian word dulband through the Turkish tarbush, is a long scarf wrapped around the head. It is a common headdress for men in Middle Eastern and South Asian countries. As a form of headdress, it is of Semitic origin and was an essential part

CHIEF KHALSA DIWAN. Until the emergence of more radical platforms such as the Sikh League (1919), Shiromam Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (1920) and Shiromani Akali Dal (1920), the Chief Khalsa Diwan, established on 30 October 1902, was the main council of the Sikhs, controlling their religious and educational affairs and raising

KHALSA DIWAN MAJHA, an association of reformist Sikhs representing the districts of Lahore, Amritsar and Gurdaspur, was set up in 1904. The Singh Sabha movement had created among the Sikhs a new consciousness for the need to reform their religious and social practices. Early in 1904, Risaldar Basant Singh of

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