KHALSA BARADARI, a social organization of Sikhs belonging to backward classes, founded in 1914. The moving spirit behind it was BhaT Mahitab Sirigli Bir, whose father, Maulawi Karim Bakhsh had, along with his children, embraced Sikhism in June 1903 and become famous as Sant Lakhmir Singh. BhaT Mahitab Singh convened

KISHAN SINGH, BHAI (d. 1921), son of Bhai Sundar Singh and Mata Nihal Kaur, a Mazhabi Sikh couple, of Rattoke village in Amritsar district, later migrating to Burj, district Lyallpur, was a young initiated Singh and the granthi (custodian) of Gurdwara Mazhabi Singhari in his village. He was only

LEHAL KALAN, village 9 km southeast of Lahira (29°56`N, 75°48`E), in Sarigrur district of the Punjab, was visited by Guru Tegh Bahadur, who halted briefly on a sandy mound, about 400 metres west of the village. An old farmer, Arak by name, served him, and received instruction from him. Bhai

MANJI, derived from the Sanskrit mancha and manchaka meaning a stage, platform, raised seat, dais, throne, beadstead, or a couch, has a special connotation in Sikh tradition. Ordinarily, a manji, in Punjabi, means a cot, especially of the simple, stringed variety. Social manner in India requires that when more than

MATA JIT KAUR SAHIB GURUDWARA, ANANDPUR Guru Gobind Singh Sahib\'s first wife Mata Jit Kaur died at Anandpur Sahib on December 5,1700. She was cremated in the outskirts of Chakk-Nanaki in the boundary of the village of Agamgarh. Some one constructed a platform at the site where she had

NIDHAN SINGH, SANT (1882-1947), holy man popularly known as Hazur Sahibvale, was born the son of Bhai  Uttam Singh of the village of Nidalori in Hoshiarpur district of the Punjab. He received religious instruction at the hands of Sant Divan Singh, popular in the area for his holiness. He

PANDHER, village 25 km south of Barnala (30° 22`N, 75° 32`E) in Sangrur district of the Punjab, has a historical shrine commemorating the visit of Guru Tegh Bahadur. It is said that as Guru Tegh Bahadur arrived here late in the afternoon and asked for a site for his

PHUMMAN SINGH, BHAI, famous as a ragi or musician reciting Sikh hymns, was born in a Jatt Sikh family of Daudhar in present day Moga district of the Punjab in the sixties of the nineteenth century. He learnt to read Scripture and recite kirtan at the Dera or seminary established

RALIA RAM (d. 1864), eldest son of Misr Chhajju Mall, was appointed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh as administrator of Amritsar in 1811. Ralla Ram displayed great energy and resourcefulness in securing peace and putting an end to thefts and highway robberies. In 1812 he was entrusted with charge of

SADHU SINGH, PANDIT (1840-1907), a school man of the Nirmala order, was born in the village of Saraliari, in Amritsar district, in 1840. From his very childhood, he developed an inclination for the company of holy men. This was cause of concern for his father, Sobha Singh, and mother,

SALOX VARAN TE VADHIK is the title given to a miscellany comprising 152 slokas or couplets appearing in the concluding portion of the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Arjan, when compiling the Holy Volume introduced slokas by the Gurus he had collected into the texts of vars, another favored form

SEHRA SAHIB, GURDWARA, on top of a hillock near Basi or Basantgarh village, one kilometre south of Guru ka Lahore in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, is dedicated to Guru Gobind Singh, who halted here for a short time on his way to Guru ka Lahore for his marriage in