CHARPAT NATH, one of the yogis whom, according to the Miharban Janam Sakhi, Guru Nanak met on Mount Sumer, was a Gorakhpanthi recluse. Guru Nanak himself mentions his name twice in his compositions in the Guru Granth Sahib in his Si`dh Gosti and in another hymn in Raga Ramkali.

SIKH TRADITION (HISTORIOGRAPHY) begins with Janam Sakhis, the life stories of Guru Nanak (1469-1539). There is hardly any evidence of the tradition of history writing in ancient India, though in modern times attempts have been made at different levels to show the existence of somewhat vague historio graphic elements particularly

CHUNG TONG, a small village on the bank of the River Teesta in Sikkim, 168 km north of the nearest railhead, Siliguri, has recently been discovered to have a connection with early Sikh history. Local tradition there refers to the visit of Guru Nanak (1469-1539) to the place during his

SURSURI The moon abides in the forehead of Shankra (Shiva) and batnes in Sursuri (Ganges). (Dhanasari Trilochan, p-695) If the water of Sursuri becomes wine, the saints even then do not drink it; the impure wine and other waters, when they mix with the waters of Sursuri, they do

DAN (Skt. dana from the root da `to give`) means the act of giving or that which is given either as charity or alms or as offering, fee or reward for spiritual instruction received or for religious rite or ritual performed. The latter, however, is more appropriately called daksina.

VAHIGURU JI KA KHALSA VAHIGURU JI KI FATEH, form of Sikh salutation, was made current among the Sikhs by command of Guru Gobind Singh at the time of the manifestation of the Khalsa in 1699. The salutation used in the days of Guru Nanak was Sati Kartar (Hail the

DEG TEGH FATEH, a Sikh saying which literally means victory (fateh) to kettle (deg) and sword (tegh). All the three words have been taken from Persian which was the State language in the formative period of Sikhism. The word deg, i.e. a large sized kettle or cauldron having a

ZAFARNAMAH SAHIB - It is a Gurdwara, at village Dialpura Bhai Ka, built in the memory of the visit by Guru Gobind Singh Sahib. According to a local tradition, it is here that Guru Sahib wrote Zafarnamah (literally: letter of victory); hence the name of the Gurdwara.

GANDHUAN, a village 20 km southwest of Sunam (30°7`N, 75°48`E) in Sangrur district of the Punjab, has a historical shrine dedicated to the memory of Guru Tegh Bahadur who visited it in the course of his travels in these parts. According to local tradition, a resident of the village, Bhai

GHARUAN, a village 8 km east of Morinda (30°47`N, 76°29`E), is sacred to Guru Har Rai. He visited the place during his travels in these parts. Several people accepted" his teachings. They established a dharamsald in the village. This was replaced by a doublestoreyed building with a high gateway during

GURMANTRA, Punjabi Gurmantar, is that esoteric formula or term significant of the Supreme Being or the deity which the master or teacher confides to the neophyte to meditate on when initiating him into his spiritual discipline. The concept of mantra goes back to the pre-Vedic non Aryan tradition and to