Wishesh Magazine February 2020 Wishesh Magazine February 2020 | Page 17

There are millions of Sikhs
all over the world. In India,
maximum of the Sikh
population live in Punjab
and the rest of them in every
other state. In addition to this,
majority of Sikhs are in foreign
countries such as Canada,
Europe, Australia, and USA.
Just 2% of the Sikh population
is in India.
Sikh history is around 500
years old. Sikh people believe
in Gurmat, it means faith
in ‘One God’. Sikhism was
started by Guru Nanak and led
by 9 other guru’s. It is believed
that after the death of Guru
Gobind Singh, his divine spirit
immersed into the scriptures
of Sikhism. This holy book is
known as Guru Granth Sahib.
The core idea of being a Sikh
is that of wanting to ‘learn’.
Earlier, Sikh was a part of
Hinduism. However, Sikhs
always considered themselves
different. The main Guru, Guru
Nanak Dev, was born as a
Hindu and had a connection
with the Sant tradition where
people sang songs to praise
God.
Sikhs, and South Indian Sikhs.
Festivals
For the most part, all the Sikh
festivals are celebrated with
regard to the culture of life of
the Sikh Gurus. Just as hindu’s
look into the calendar and
celebrate festivals. Likewise,
Sikhs have nanakshahi calendar
to see dates and celebrate their
festivals.
This Nanakshahi calendar is
monitored by the Gurudwara
Prabhandak Committee. This
committee organizes festivals
across all Gurudwaras. Except
for festivals like Hola Mohalla,
Diwali and Gurunanak’s
birthday, every other festival
is followed according to
Nanakshahi.
Take a look at all
the Sikh festivals
1.Lohri
Lohri is an auspicious day
to celebrate the harvest
season. This festival is mostly
celebrated by Punjabi’s
when compared to Sikhs.
Earlier, the society showed
gender discrimination and
celebrated Lohri when a baby
boy was born. Now, things
have changed and Lohri is
celebrated after a baby girl is
born as well.
Things to know
> A bonfire is arranged on
Lohri day
Culture
In the Sikh community,
there are different kinds of
Sikhs. Sikhs speak Afghani,
Assamese, Kashmiri, Telugu
and many other languages.
There are Assamese Sikhs,
American Sikhs, Afghani
Sikhs, Agrahari Sikhs, Dakhni
Sikhs, Kashmiri Sikhs, Sindhi
FEBRUARY 2020 | WWW.WISHESH.NET