Sat Sri Akal!
Guess where I just got back from….? Amritsar! Amritsar is a
city in Punjab and a popular tourist spot, famous for Harmandir Sahib, or the
Golden Temple.
57.69% of the people in Punjab are Sikhs, so I decided to
find out more about them. Here are some interesting facts about Sikhs and their
distinctive religion.
Sikhism, a monotheistic religion, emerged in the 15th
century in Punjab, India. It was a militaristic religion that was established
to fight against the Mughal invaders. Sikhs follow the scripture Guru Granth Sahib and believe in only one
God. They follow gurus too.
One thing that is truly impressive about the religion is the
concept of ‘seva’ or service to
people. At the Golden Temple, there were many people, old and young, rich and
poor, doing different jobs like storing others’ shoes, giving out cups of
water, making and serving food.
When we asked various people about how we could do service
too, they said we could just walk in, wash our hands and do whatever form of
service we liked for however long we wanted, from five minutes to four hours!
Sikhism has five symbols – kesh (uncut hair), kara
(steel bangle), kanga (wooden comb), kirpan (sword), and kacchera (long underwear). I think Sikhs are very religious people
as most of the Sikhs I saw at the temple carried kirpans, had long hair and wore karas.
I was fascinated to see the kirpans that so many people were carrying around with them, and the
shops that sold so many different types – sharp and blunt, simple and fancy,
short and long.
Sikhs were deeply affected during the partition of India,
though they were neither Hindu or Muslim. When we visited the Partition Museum
we saw how horrible the partition was and how so many innocent Sikhs were
massacred. Almost no Sikhs in West Punjab survived, as they were brutally
killed. Trains carrying Sikhs from Pakistan arrived in India full of blood and
corpses as the trains had been attacked by mobs on the way.
But some Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims actually helped each
other. Sarjit Singh Chowdhary, a Sikh soldier, helped Muslims cross the border
and might have saved the lives of a few hundred people!
Overall, I think Sikhism is a very interesting religion that
adds to India’s diverse culture.
