Sikhism

Sikhism is one of the youngest religions of the world, which was founded nearly 500 years ago. It is characterized by belief in one God, faith and justice. Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism gave his first message in 1949 and said that that there is no Hindu and no Muslim; the practice of Truth is the highest morality (Madan, 1997, 42). He was impelled to unite all peoples after seeing the brutality of Babar’s invasions in India. Sikhism preaches a message of devotion and remembrance of God all the times, truthful living, equality of mankind and denounces superstitions, communal differences, hierarchy of castes and blind rituals. Sikhism is open to all through the teachings of its 10 Gurus enshrined in the Sikh Holy Book and Living Guru, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, decreed by the tenth Guru, Guru Govind Singh. Followers of Sikhism are called the Sikh, i.e., students or disciples. Sikhism is considered to be a monotheistic and revealed religion. In Sikhism, God—termed Vahiguru—is shapeless, timeless, and sightless: nira?kar, akal, and alakh. According to Guru Nanak, salvation can be reached only through rigorous and disciplined devotion to God. He stressed the irrelevance of outward observations such as rites, pilgrimages, or asceticism. All Sikhs, however, regard Harmandir Sahib as the holiest place for all Sikhs (Figure 12.1).

The major concentration of Sikhs is found in the states of Punjab and Haryana and Sikhs are second wealthiest community of India, next to Jains. For a long time the institutions of caste and marriage were common with Hindus and marriages between Sikhs and Hindus were so common that people commonly believed that Sikhism is part of Hinduism only. But this claim has always been protested by Sikh religious and political leaders who want to acquire a distinct religious identity of their own.