sikh

AKALPURAKH stands in Sikh religious literature for the Divine Being, i.e. God. Like Akal, Murati, it is composed of two units, viz. akal (non temporal) and purakh (person). The latter figures in Mul Mantra, the preamble to Guru Nanak`s Japu, in conjunction with Xarta (Creator), the whole expression implying the Creator Divine Person. In the Sikh tradition, the expression Akal Purakh has gained common currency like the terms Vahiguru and Satinam, equivalently used.

AMAR DAS, GURU (1479-1574), the third of the ten Gurus of the Sikh faith, was born into a Bhalla Khatri family on Baisakh sudi 14, 1536 Bk, corresponding to 5 May 1479, at Basarke, a village in present day Amritsar district of the Punjab. His father\'s name was Tej Bhan and mother\'s Bakht Kaur; the latter has also been called by chroniclers variously as Lachchhami, Bhup Kaur and Rup Kaur. He was married on 11 Magh 1559 Bk to Mansa Devi, daughter of Devi Chand, a Bahil Khatri, of the village of Sankhatra, in Sialkot district, and had four children two sons, Mohri and Mohan, and two daughters. Dani and Bhani. Amar Das had a deeply religious bent of mind.

ANANDPUR SAHIB RESOLUTION, a frequently invoked document of modern Sikhism pronouncing its religious rule as well as its political goal. After having enjoyed power under chief ministers, Gurnam Singh and Parkash Singh Badal in the Punjab, newly demarcated in 1966, Sikhs as represented by their premier political party, the Shiromani Akali Dal, were able to capture only one seat at the elections to Indian Parliament (1971) from among the 13 which were Punjab`s portion. In the Punjab Assembly elections which took place in March 1972 their tally was a mere 24 seats out of a total of 117, and the Punjab Government passed into the hands of the Congress Party, with Giani Zail Singh (later, President of India) as chief minister.

ARUR SINGH, Maharaja Duleep Singh`s personal attendant and confidant, belonged to the village of Kohali, in Amritsar district. He was one of the five Sikhs who administered pahul or Sikh initiatory rites to Maharaja Duleep Singh at Aden on 25 May 1886. From Aden, Arur Singh accompanied the Maharaja to Europe. In 1887, Arur Singh was sent by the Maharaja to India as his accredited ambassador. He carried with him five letters from Duleep Singh, one of them addressed to the princes of India and another to the King of Oudh.

ANAND KARAJ: Aanand Kaaraj is the Sikh marriage ceremony. The exact date of its origin is not known but references can be found that the marriage of the children of Guru Sahib had been performed by way of this ceremony. Guru Sahib had made it obligatory for a Sikh not to marry except through Aanand Kaaraj ceremony. In Sikh marriage system, the couple circumam bulates Guru Granth Sahib four times in clockwise direction while hymns from Guru Granth Sahib (at pp. 77374) are read and the ceremony is complete after an Ardaas (the Sikh prayer).

BAKHT MALL and Tara Chand, masands or accredited Sikh preachers in Kabul, once ledr the sangat of their area to the Punjab to wait on Guru Hargobind (1595-1644). Among the offerings they brought were two pedigree horses of excelling beauty, named Gulbagh and Dilbagh. As they were passing through Lahore, the imperial governor seized the two horses for the royal stable.

BATTHA, BHAI, was a masand or local leader heading the Sikh congregation at Pattan Shaikh Farid, better known as Pakpattan, in Montgomery (now Sahival) district of Pakistan, during the time of Guru Har Krishan and Guru Tegh Bahadur. As is evident from a number of bukamnamas or edicts issued by the Gurus to the sangat of Pakpattan, Bhai Battha was a prominent Sikh of his time.

BHAKTI AND SIKHISM. The word bhakti is derived from Skt. bhaj, meaning to serve, honour, revere, love and adore. In the religious idiom, it is attachment or fervent devotion to God and is defined as "that particular affection which is generated by the knowledge of the attributes of the Adorable One." The concept is traceable to the Vedas where its intimations are audible in the hymns addressed to deities such as Varuna, Savitra and Usha.

BIJAI SINGH, by Bhai Vir Singh, is a historical romance constructed around the heroic figure of Bijai Singh, a fictitious character, through whose spiritual integrity it endeavours to delineate a whole people, its inspiration and way of life. First published in 1899, Bijai Singh is the author`s second novel and, like its predecessor Sundari (q.v.), it is situated in the same 18th century period of suffering and trial for the Sikhs. Bijai Singh is in every sense an exemplary character. Born Ram Lal in a Hindu Khatri family of Lahore, he received the new name Bijai Singh as, moved by the gallant deeds of the Sikhs, he, along with his wife and son, receives the initiatory rites and joins the ranks of the Khalsa.

BUNGAS The word bunga is derived from the Persian bungah meaning a hospice, or a dwelling place. In the Sikh tradition, the word specifically refers to the dwelling places and mansions which grew up around the Harimandar at Amritsar and at other centres of Sikh pilgrimage. These were primarily the houses built by the conquering sardars and chiefs in Sikh times or by Sikh school men and sectaries. Amritsar housed the largest complex of such buildings.