RAM TIRATH, SVAMI (1897-1977), also known as Dandi Sannyasi (different from Rama Tirtha, Svami), was a recluse who after a prolonged spiritual quest turned to the Guru Granth Sahib. Born on 31 August 1897 to Pandit Balak Ram and Hari Devi, a Gaur Brahman family of the village of

SAHIB DIAL (b.1801), second of the five sons of Misr Ralia Ram, entered the Sikh service as a munshi (clerk) in the Customs Department under his father. In 1832 he was transferred to the Paymaster`s office of the regular army and in 1839 was made chief of the customs

SANGAT SINGH, SANT (1882-1950), a Sikh saint revered for his piety as well as for his learning, was born in 1882, at Kamalia, a small town in Lyallpur district, now in Pakistan. His father, Bhai Sital Das, a Sahajdhari Sikh, was a descendant of Bhai Shamu Sachiar, one of

SHABAD HAJARE PATSHAHI 10 is the title by which a complement of 10 of Guru Gobind Singh`s sabdas in the Dasam Granth is known. In the text these sabdas appear under the individual rag"as in which they have been composed, carrying no specific title as such. Shabad Hajare is

SUCHAJl (SUCHAJJI), literally, a woman of good manner and accomplishment, is the title of one of Guru Nanak`s compositions, in measure Suhi, in the Guru Granth Sahib. Antithetically, it follows another of his compositions called Kuchaji (literally, an awkward, illmannered woman). Suchaji (`sn`, meaning good or appropriate; `chaf meaning

TAHLA SAHIB, GURDWARA, sacred to both Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh, is in the revenue limits of Rajgarh Kubbe, a village 5 km southeast of Maur Kalan (30"4 N, 75"14E), in Bathinda district of the Punjab. Lying 2.5 km to the west of the village, there used to

THARA SAHIB, an half-a-metre high and 5-metre square marble-paved platform stands in the open space in front of Damdama Sahib. It was here that Guru Tegh Bahadur received the group of Kashmiri Pandits who called on him in 1675.

VAR SUHI KI, in the measure Suhi, is one of Guru Amar Das` four vars in die Guru Grandi Sahib. Suha in Punjabi means red or scarlet, and this being the colour of a bride`s dress in India, die word signifies the consecrated lives of the true devotees of

AKBAR, JALAL UD-DIN MUHAMMAD (1542-1605), third in the line of Mughal emperors of India, was born on 23 November 1542 at Amarkot, in Sindh, while his father, Humayun, was escaping to Persia after he had been ousted by Sher Khan Sur. Akbar was crowned king at Kalanaur, in the Punjab,

ASA KI VAR, as recorded in the index to the Guru Granth Sahib, but commonly designated Asa di Var, lit. an ode (var) in the musical measure Asa, is a composition by Guru Nanak sung by musicians at Sikh congregations as part of the early morning service. Asa is

BANTA SINGH, BHAI (1894-1921), one of the Nankana Sahib martyrs, was the son of Bhai Bhola Singh Dhillon and Mai Bhag Kaur of village Bihera, in Hoshiarpur district. He was born on 25 October 1894. As a youth, he had engaged in wrestling and gone out hunting. He had