Dewali OR Bandi Chhor Diwas

Sain Mian Mir and Wazir Khan (Governor of Lahore) approached Emperor Jahangir on behalf of Guru Hargobind Sahib (the 6th Guru Nanak) and secured the releasing orders. When Guru Sahib met Jahangir immediately after his release, he insisted upon Jahangir for the release of other fifty-two Hindu Princes on his personal surety (These Princes were said to be the rebellious ones).

The request was obliged and all the prisoners were released in 1612.

Then the title of "Bandi Chhor Baba" was given to Guru Hargobind Sahib and is still remembered by this name.

From Gwalior (where Guru ji was imprisoned) Guru Sahib reached Amritsar on the occasion of Dewali. This was a big occasion for the Sikhs. It is said that Baba Budha Ji littered the earthen lamps throughout the Amritsar city.

The Sikhs celebrated this occasion enthusiastically. From this day the Sikh Nation began to celebrate Dewali festival as " Bandi Chhor Diwas " also.

Now the attitude of Jahangir and his empire towards Guru Sahib changed considerably and remained favorable and friendly till his death.

Remembering the Great Freedom Fighter

On his 102nd birth Anniversary,I pay my tribute to Shaheed-E-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh ji.

He was born on Saturday,28th September 1907 and at the age when every Young Indian Boy prepared himself for his Marriage this young Sardar Bhagat Singh was trying to cut the roots of the British Empire from the Indian Soil.

He 100% succeeded in his Goal.

Sardar Bhagat Singh comes of a well known Sikh family from the district of Lyallpur. His ancestors were Khalsa Sardars who, under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, helped in the spread of the Sikh Kingdom against the turbulent Pathans on the west and the dangerous English on the east.

Sikhism - Have a quick look

1) The Founder of Sikhism is Guru Nanak Sahib ji
2) Sikhism is a practical religion. It does not consist in a certain set of beliefs or mere words.Religion does not imply wandering to shrines and tombs, or following austerities of Yogis. Sikhism is a way of life, something to be lived according to a pattern. Its main virtue is simplicity. There is no supernaturalism or mythology on which it rests. It does not believe in devils or angels or heavenly spirits.
3) Sikhism is a universal religion.
4) Sikhism is opposed to all ritualism and formalism.
5) Sikhism does not enjoin blind faith. Blind obedience to an external authority is dis-couraged. The death of the intellect can not be a condition of the life of the spirit. Faith does not start with surmises or absurdities.
6) Sikhism is a faith of hope and cheer. Though it affirms Karma, it recognises the possibility of the modification of one's Karma with the grace of the Guru or God. It does not lead to despair and defeatism.
7) Sikhism is a democratic religion. The decisions of the Sangat are regarded as resolutions having the force of law (Gurmatta) Guru Gobind Singh Sahib vested the authority of the organisation in the Panth.

S.Banda Singh Bahadur (1670~1716 A.D.)

Salute to great Sikh Warrior Sardar Banda Singh Bahadur who gave all but not his beliefs

S.Banda Singh Bahadur was the First Sikh Ruler of Undivided Punjab (India)

A great warrior,true sikh,able administrator & a GREAT MARTYR. In a short span of EIGHT years has acheived many milestones.

Born in 1670 as Lachman Dass and later when he becomes BAIRAGI & was called Madho Das Bairagi, because of his detachment from family life.

He met GURU GOBIND SINGH Ji in 1708 when GURU Ji visited his Dera in Nanded (Maharastra,India).

Bairagi tried his many tricks and magic to impress the Guru, but failed. He soon realized that the visitor to his 'dera' was no ordinary person, but a great master. He fell to the feet of the Guru and felt solace in his mind. When the Guru asked him who he was, he answered, "Master, this is your Banda (slave)."

He gets the Baptism from Panj Pyara's in the presence of Guru Gobind Singh Ji (in 1708AD) and becomes "A SIKH" & thus called Sardar Banda Singh Bahadur.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh (Singh is King)

Maharaja Ranjit Singh ( 13th November 1780 – 27th June 1839) also called "Sher-e-Punjab" ("The Lion of Punjab") was the principle Sikh ruler of the sovereign country of Punjab and the Sikh Empire.He was the second Sikh King after the First Banda Singh Bahadur.
His sons were, in rapid succession, the others rulers but their rule was short lived. The Maharaja was born on 13th November 1780 in Gujranwala now in modern day Pakistan,into the Sansi-Sandhawalia family. At the time, much of Punjab was ruled by the Sikhs , who had divided the territory among factions known as misls.
Ranjit Singh's father Maha Singh was the misaldar ("commander", "misl leader") of the Sukerchakia misl and controlled a territory in west Punjab based around his headquarters at Gujranwala. Ranjit Singh succeeded his father as the misaldar, at the young age of 12. The name of his mother was Mai Raj Kaur who was the daughter of the king of Jind. She was also known by the name of ‘Malwain’.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Empire extended from the Khyber Pass in the west, to Kashmir in the north (touching) the border's of Tibet, to the Sind River in the south and in the east to Himachal Pradesh.
The main geographical footprint of the empire was Punjab (historical Punjab region including present days Himachal Pradesh,Haryana).

The religious population demography of the Sikh Empire was Muslim (60%),Hindu (25%) and Sikh (15%).

This great warrior, fearless soldier, able administrator, clement ruler, statesman and liberator of Punjab died on 27th June 1839. His Samadhi (memorial) is located in Lahore now in Pakistan.

I pay my tribute to this GREAT KING of Sikh (Punjab,India) history.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh is included in the list of "Undefeated Military Commanders", [1] at Wikibin - a list of known military commanders who did not lose any significant engagement against the enemy as the commander-in-chief of a significant portion of a country's military forces.

History of Punjab

History of Punjab
647 - 1192: Rajput Period
713 - 1300: Muslim Invaders (Turks and Arabs) infamous invaders like Mahmud Gori and Mahmud Ghazni
8th Century: Arabs capture Sind and Multan
1450 - 1700: Mughal Rule
1469 - 1539: Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji (1st Sikh Guru)
1539 - 1675: Period of 8 Sikh Gurus from Guru Angad Dev Ji to Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji
1675 - 1708: Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji (10th Sikh Guru)
1699: Birth of the Khalsa
1708 - 1715: Conquests of Banda Bahadur
1716 - 1759: Sikh struggle against Moghul Governors
1739: - Nadir Shah of Persia invades
1748 -1769: Ahmed Shah Abdali's nine invasions
1762: 2nd Ghalughara (Holocaust) during Ahmed Shah's 6th invasion
1764 - 1799: The Sikh Misls fight each other for control of territories
1799 - 1839: Maharaja Ranjit Singh Rules Punjab and J and K

Bhai Vir Singh Ji

Bhai Vir Singh (December 5, 1872 - June 10, 1957) was a poet, scholar and theologian who was a major figure in the movement for the revival and renewal of Punjabi (Language) literary tradition. His identification with all the important concerns of modern Sikhism was so complete that he came to be canonized as Bhai, the Brother of the Sikh Order, very early in his career. For his pioneering work in its several different genres, he is acknowledged as the creator of modern Punjabi literature.
Born on 5 December 1872, in Amritsar (Punjab,India), Bhai Vir Singh was the eldest of Dr.Charan Singh’s three sons. The family traces its ancestry back to Diwan Kaura Mall (d. 1752), who rose to the position of vice-governor of Multan, under Nawab Mir Mu'ln ul-Mulk, With the title of Maharaja Bahadur.
Baba Kahn Singh (1788-1878) was, perhaps, the first in the family to become a Sikh. He became a recluse when he was still in his early teens and spent his entire youth in monasteries at Haridvar and then at Amritsar acquiring training in traditional Sikh learning. His mother's affection ultimately reclaimed him to the life of a householder at the age of 40, when he got married. Adept in versification in Sanskrit and Braj as well as in the oriental system of medicine, Baba Kahn Singh passed on his interests to his only son, Dr Charan Singh.
Apart from his sustained involvement in literary and scholarly pursuits, mainly as a Braj poet, Punjabi prose-writer, musicologist, prosodist and lexicographer, Dr Charan Singh took active interest in the affairs of the Sikh community, then experiencing a new urge for restoration as well as for change.

Sikh Guru - The Meaning of GURU

The word "Guru" is a Sanskrit word meaning teacher, honored person, religious person or saint. Sikhism though has a very specific definition of the word Guru. It means the descent of divine guidance to mankind provided through ten Enlightened Masters. This honour of being called a Sikh Guru applies only to the ten Gurus who founded the religion starting with Guru Nanak in 1469 and ending with Guru Gobind Singh in 1708.

Thereafter it refers to the Sikh Holy Scriptures the Guru Granth Sahib. The divine spirit was passed from one Guru to the next as "The light of a lamp which lights another does not abate. Similarly a spiritual leader and his disciple become equal, Nanak says the truth."

"They distinguish and separate one Guru from the other. And rare is the one who knows that they, indeed, were one. They who realised this in their hearts, attained Realisation of God." (Guru Gobind Singh, Dohira, Vachitra Natak)

Martyrdom of Guru Arjan dev ji (5th Guru of sikhs)

16th June 2009 is the 403rd Anniversary of martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev ji

On the 16 June of every year since 1606, the Sikhs have commemorated the martyrdom of their first martyr, the fifth Guru,Guru Arjan Dev.Sikh history until then had been peaceful and non-violent. All the Sikh Guru had taught the message of compassion, love, dedication, hard work, worship of one God and the commitment to peace and harmony for all the peoples of the world.

By the orders of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev was tortured to death in Lahore (now in Pakistan) (1606 A.D.)

The Guru was much respected religious steward of the Sikhs who gave them the holy Guru Granth Sahib in A.D. 1604.

He got built Santokhsar in A.D. 1588; Sri Harimander Sahib in 1589; Sarowar and the Darbar Sahib Tarn Taran in 1590.

The city of Kartarpur (Punjab) was built and populated in 1594.

The Muslim bigots could not tolerate the spread of universal message of peace and brotherhood of mankind as preached by Sri Guru Arjan Dev ji.

Guru Arjan dev ji is also called "Shaheedon Ke Sartaaj" The King of Martyrs as he is the First Sikh to achieve martyrdom.

Sri Hargobind Sahib succeeded to Gurgaddi after the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Ji.

sikhism spreading wings across the globe

Today I was searching for "Amitab Bachchan's Hindi blog" wherein he shared his financial situation with his fans.That at his college days sometimes he didn't had 25 paisa for buying a coca cola.I successfully found that blog.
But in this process I watched this 9:56 min video on sikhism on YouTube.
I request you to watch this video as I watched with full intrest

Singh is Kinng

We welcome Dr.S.Manmohan Singh Ji as the Prime Minister of India yet again.

The King (S.Manmohan Singh ji) would be sworn in as PRIME MINISTER on Friday, May 22, 2009 at 6:30 PM (IST) in the RASTRAPATI BHAWAN, New Delhi, INDIA.