An outline of Sikh architectureby S.S. BhattiSo little has been written about Sikh architecture that it is difficult for anyone to believe that such a style of architecture exists at all. It is ironic that whereas the Sikhs are known the world over for their characteristic vigor, valor, versatility, above

KEDARA Ganga, Yamuna, Vrindavana and Kedara, Kasi, Mathura, Dwarka Puri, Sangam and Stxty-eight pilgrim-stations—all these places are there within Thy Form. (Maru M. l, p. 1022) .....Shiva in the form of a buffalo established Kedara. (Malar M. 4, p. 1263) There are twelve great Lingas (Phallus) of Shiva and

MAKKHAN SINGH, BHAI (d. 1863) was a granthi or officiant of the Darbar Sahib at Amritsar. When the British entered Lahore after the first Anglo-Sikh war in 1846, some of them, while visiting the holy shrine, would desecrate the precincts by entering with shoes on and otherwise annoy the

PARDUMAN SINGH GIANI, BHAI (d. 1877), principal granthi or priest and manager of Sri Darbar Sahib at Amritsar, was the eldest of the four sons of Bhai Gurmukh Singh Giani (d. 1843), a man of learning and an influential courtier in Sikh times. He was the grandson of the

PIPA, one of whose hymns is incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib, was a prince who renounced his throne in search of spiritual solace. He was born at Gagaraun, in present day Jhalawar district of Rajasthan, about AD 1425. He was a devotee of the goddess Bhavani whose idol

SAUNDHA SINGH, famous as Kavi (kavi= poet) Saundha, was born around 1750 at the village of Kale, in Amritsar district of the Punjab. He studied Hindi, Rekhta and Persian, as also music, under Gur Sahai Kundra of Thatti Nagar, near Chunian, in Lahore district. He launched upon his literary

SHAHID BABA DEEP SINGH GURUDWARA, AMRITSAR The great Sikh scholar and martyr Baba Deep Singh was mortally wounded here. In 1762 the Afghan invader Ahmed Shah Abdali ordered the Golden Temple blown up and the Sacred Tank filled in. Baba Deep Singh the greatest Sikh scholar of his time

CHITTAGONG (22° 21`N, 91° 50`E), a major port town of Bangladesh, situated on the right bank of Karnaphuli River, 20 km from its mouth, has a historic Sikh shrine, called Gurdwara Sikh Temple, dedicated to Guru Nanak, who is believed to have stayed here briefly in 1507-08.

ELECTRIFICATION OF THE GOLDEN TEMPLE, Whether or not electricity be inducted into the Golden Temple premises was a raging polemic in the closing years of the nineteenth century. There were views pro and con, and the debate was joined by both sides vehemently and unyieldingly. As was then the style

GHUMAN, village 10 km west of Sri Hargobindpur (30°41`N, 75°29`E) in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab. Namdev (1270-1350), the muchrevered saint of Maharashtra, some of whose hymns are included in the Guru Granth Sahib, lived in this village for a considerable time. Most of his years until the age of

GIAN SINGH, BHAI (1883-1953), naqqash or fresco painter, was born in the city of Amritsar in 1883. His father, Taba Singh, a comb maker by profession, supplemented his meagre income by dispensing ayurvedic medicines in his spare time. At the age of five, Gian Singh was sent

HARIMANDAR (lit. the House of God; hari = Visnu, or God; mandar = temple, house), Golden Temple to the English speaking world, is the Sikhs` most famous sacred shrine. Also called Sri Darbar Sahib (the Exalted Holy Court), it lies in the heart of the city of