NAINA SINGH, AKALI, eighteenth century Nihang warrior esteemed as much for his piety as for his valour. His special title to fame rests on the fact that he was the guardian of the celebrated Akali Phula Singh (1761-1823) whom he trained in the martial arts. Little is known about his

HOLA MAHALLA or simply Hola, a Sikh festival, takes place on the first of the lunar month of Chef which usually falls in March. This follows the Hindu festival of Holi. The name Hola is the masculine form of the feminine sounding Holi. Mahalla, derived from the

ASA, one of the thirty one ragas or musical measures into which compositions comprising the Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, except the Japu, are cast and in which they are meant to be recited and sung. This raga is important in the Sikh system of music, and is said

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

AKAL BUNGA, lit. the abode of the Timeless One, is the building that houses the Akal Takht in the precincts of the Darbar Sahib at Amritsar. The term is also used sometimes synonymously with Akal Takht. Strictly speaking, while Akal Takht is the institution possessing and exercising

AGAUL, village 10 km from Nabha (30°22\'N, 76°9\'E) in Patiala district, has a historical shrine called Gurudwara Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib. In the course of a journey through this area, Guru Tegh Bahadur came and sat here under a pipal tree on the bank of a pond. The

The Gurdwara Aaduporh is a historical shrine commemorating the visit of Guru Hargobind Ji. Guru Ji came to the site while riding his horse, where now the present Gurdwara Sahib stands. At this place Guru Ji met a holyman whose name was Aadu and asked him about the well being

BAISAKHI, a seasonal festival popular in the Punjab which takes place on the First day of the solar month of Baisakh (Sanskrit Vaisakha, so called because according to astrological calculations, the moon at this time passes through visakha naksatra or constellation) of the Indian calendar. Traditionally, the festival was celebrated

BECHINT SINGH, BHAI (1872-1921), one of the Nankana Sahib martyrs, was the son of Bhai Sundar Singh and Mat Sahib Kaur, a peasant couple of the village of Pharala in Jalandhar district. The family migrated to Chakk No. 258 Pharala in the newly colonized district of Lyallpur in 1892.

BUNGA, 5 km south of Kiratpur Sahib (31 °10`N, 76t)35`E) in Ropar district of the Punjab, claims a historical shrine Gurdwara Bunga Sahib, also called Chubachcha Sahib, dedicated to Guru Har Rai. Guru Har Rai, Nanak VII, complying with his predecessor`s instruction, continued to maintain at Kiratpura body of

CHARAN SINGH. BHAI (d. 1921), one of the Nankana Sahib martyrs, was the son of Bhai Gokal Singh and Mai Lachhman Kaur of Diriga village, in Gujrat district. He lost his mother during infancy. His old grandmother looked after him for about five years and was then sent to

CENTRAL MAJHA KHALSA DiWAN, also known as the Shiromani Panth Milauni Jatha, was one of the several regional organizations that came into being on the eve of the Gurdwara reform movement of the 1920\'s. A Khalsa Diwan in the Majha area had in fact been established as early as