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Home
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Sikhism
| Size & Location
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Size
And Location
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The
religion was founded in the Punjab area of India and
the holiest site is the Golden Temple (Harmiandir Sahib)
in Amritsar – though it is not a place of pilgrimage.
Today there are approximately 6 million followers in
the Punjab within a total 20 million followers around
the world (in the UK there are approximately 350,000
– 500,000). Some Sikhs have advocated the creation
of a Sikh state in the Punjab called ‘Khalsastan’.
Sikhism is open to all and preaches a message of devotion
and remembrance of God at all times, truthful living,
equality and social justice.
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Origins
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Sikhism
is the youngest of the world religions and was founded
in the Punjab area of India in the fifteenth century
by Guru Nanak. Guru Nanak was born in 1469. He preached
a message of love and understanding. His was a simple
message of ‘Ek Ong Kar’ – we are all
one, created by the one creator of all creation. The
time in which the Gurus lived was a turbulent period
with difficulties faced with both the Hindus and the
Muslims, but the message was of one God who encompassed
all, as outlined by Guru Arjan:
‘I
observe neither Hindu fasting nor the ritual of the
Muslim Ramadan month; Him I serve who at the last shall
save. The Lord of Universe of the Hindus, Gosain and
Allah to me are one; From Hindus and Muslims I have
broken free. I perform neither Kaaba pilgrimage nor
at bathing spots worship; One Sole Lord I serve, and
no other. I perform neither the Hindu worship nor the
Muslim prayer; To the Sole formless Lord in my heart
I bow. We neither are Hindus nor Muslims; Our body and
life belong to the One Supreme being who alone is both
Ram and Allah for us.’
Guru
Nanak passed on his leadership to nine successive Gurus.
The last was Guru Gobind Singh who established the Khalsa
and died in 1708.
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Holy
Text
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Sri
Guru Granth-Sahib
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Nine
Sikh Gurus
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The
holy book of the Sikhs is called the Sri Guru Granth Sahib
and is written in Punjabi in a script called Gurumukha
(meaning from the mouth of the Guru). The book was compiled
by Guru Arjan and placed in the Golden Temple in 1604.
The Holy Book contains 1,430 pages and 3,384 hymns. Before
Guru Gobind Singh died he declared that Sikhs no longer
needed a living guru but that all the wisdom they needed
could be found in the Holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib.
The Guru Granth Sahib is unique in that it is accorded
the status of being the spiritual head of the Sikh religion.
The first two sentences of the Granth are those which
are said by Sikhs every day on wakening:
‘There
is but one God, whose name is True, Creator, devoid
of fear and enmity, immortal, unborn, self-existent,
great and bountiful. The True One is, was, and also
shall be.’
In the Gurudwara the Granth is placed on a small seat
on a high platform under a canopy. A chawri is waved
over it at the time of the service as a sign of its
spiritual importance. The Dasam Granth is also an important
book which incorporates the work of a number of poets
and the writings of Guru Gobind Singh.
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