Chapter 17 Major Religions Reference Notes: Sikhism
Chapter 17 Major Religions Reference Notes: Sikhism
Chapter 17 Major Religions Reference Notes: Sikhism
Reference Notes
Sikhism
Guru Ram Dug the holy tank at Amritsar. The city of Amritsar takes its name
Das from it.
Guru Arjun Constructed Gurudwara Harminder Sahib in the centre of the tank.
Dev It is also known as the Golden Temple.
Guru Har Constructed the Akal Takht or Throne of God near the Golden
Gobind Temple.
Guru Gobind Created Khalsa Panth at Anandpur popularly known as Takht Shri
Singh Keshgarh Sahib on the day of Baisakhi in 1699 C.E.
• To be one with God, one should be egoless and denounce lust for
worldly pleasures.
• He believed in Nirankar Brahma or God.
• For him, Rama and Rahim were the same.
• Believed in selfless and honest service of humanity.
• Preached through kirtans, self composed ‘Bani’ and also songs of other
saints.
• Established Sangat and Pangat.
• Passed away in 1539 CE at Kartarpur.
• Sangat is the religious gathering where everyone recites the name without any
discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, colour etc.
• Pangat is eating langar by sitting together in a row without any discrimination
on the basis of caste, creed, race, etc or of rich or poor.
Bhakti Movement
Bhakti Saints
• Believed in the worship to God. God is formless-Nirakar, omnipresent
and omnipotent.
• Denounced idol worship.
• Preached devotion and loving relationship between devotee and the God
to attain Moksha.
• Used local languages to preach their message.
• Discarded rituals and sacrifices to create Oneness with God.
• Bhakti saints opposed the caste system, superstitions and narrow
mindedness.
• The Alvars (Vaishnavities- Followers of Lord Vishnu) and the Nayanars
(Shaivities- Followers of Lord Shiva) condemned rigidities of casteism
and taught the lessons of love, devotion and equality.
Ramananda
• Many legends are prevalent about the birth, life and death of Kabir.
• It is believed that he was actually the son of a Brahmin widow who
abandoned him and that he was found by a Muslim weaver named Niru
who adopted the boy and taught him the skill of weaving. He was never
formally educated. According to a legend, the only word that he learned
to write was ‘Rama’.
Popular Bhakti Saints
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