The Sikhs have fought and won numerous battles in past, often against heavy odds. This has been possible, I believe, not only on account of immense courage, but also a strong sense of self-discipline. Sadly, many of those who call themselves Sikhs, nowadays, seem to have given up the latter, along with their
Kesh (unshorn hair and, in the case of men, beard as well).
The following photgraphs were taken at
Keshgarh Sahib, a few days ago. The painted signs are meant to request members of the
Sangat (congregation) to deposit their shoes at the designated place, from where they could collect these before leaving the premises, simply by returning a token issued against the shoes. The service is provided free of charge.
Though i will agree with you on the point of unshaven head and face, I dont think how the pics put up here show indiscipline among Sikhs when such a thing is too popular in India (and Asia too) – this thing is more of soci0-cultural problem rather than religious!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous | 06.01.08 – 3:30 pm | #
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It is precisely by going against socio-cultural trends like these that the Sikhs have built up a glorious military history and continued to produce record agricultural outputs, besides excelling in other fields.
I am 32 years old and, believe me, such indiscipline inside the premises of a Gurdwara, especially one like Keshgarh Sahib, is something new for me.
By the way, there are a lot many other things that are ‘popular’ in India and still constitute wrong-doing, despite being ‘popular’.
Also, if one takes a close look at Sikhism’s origins and its early history, one realises that it was to root out such socio-cultural problems that Sikhism was brought into existence by its Gurus.
Sidhusaaheb | Homepage | 06.01.08 – 3:58 pm | #
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It is a basic discourtesy, a wilful disobedience, and a nuisance to public. I have a similar click with me. Will share it sometime.
Manpreet | Homepage | 06.01.08 – 8:08 pm | #
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No doubt all over in Punjab, even
Gurdewara in US,Canda/UK,samo samo
indiscipline.
What to say more,in USA gurdewaras
well painted parking spots marked for
but few stupid,calling themselves
khalsa,park their BMW/MB/LEXUS just
next to NISHAN SAHIB or CLOSE TO
KITCHEN,hinderance to the kitchen
goers.
I did point out to one in Ceres CA
near MODESTO,it was raining,the rascal
blocked the temp.pathway to kitchen
muddy path,instead,he rebuked and shouted as if he were the owner of
the gurd.challenged,forwarded his
vehile tag number,left my phone on his
window,five weeks later,DMV mailed
warning letter to the violater.
What been going in tracy Gurdewara,
for few vested,GURDEWARA vast open
land,a heaven for truck owners,free
and open parking site,County/City
cited gurdewara several times, as
parking of 10-15 trucks every eve.
turned the gurdewara,an income producing entity,who bothers…
3-4 truck bears KHALSA TRUCKING COMP.
KHALSA LOGISTICS/KHALSA transportation
It was like tracy in fremont gurd.
truckers,smuggled drugs,transferred drug in family owned small vehicles,
survilliance camers were installed to
grab the truth,when caught,the so called naming themselves KHALSA’s
turned violent,presently a hub of
goondaism,protests,fist to fist fights
become a platform of all illegal
activities.The bay area very cheap
weekly pbi.issues, only just defaming
the rival group, never ever cared to
highlight such indisicipline,the reason,gurd.now run under chumar
khalsa goondas,have no respect for the holy book,no respect for the sangat,always,drum their own beats
false cries,mudslinging DISRESPECT
TO THE TURBAN/INSULT TO SIKHI, BEARD
proofs available with SAN JOSE M NEWS
LOCAL ENGL.DAILIES
nimmi | 06.02.08 – 5:20 am | #
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Speaking of kesh, I have a couple of doubts to clear: is the hair unshorn right from birth? or is there some kind of ’start’ as you would call it into an adult-Sikh life?
Secondly, how long is a typical turban?
Thirdly, do you carry a kirpan? I think they look awesome
sriram | Homepage | 06.02.08 – 2:12 pm | #
@Sriram: The hair is, indeed, supposed to be unshorn right from birth. The initiation into adult life, for boys, typically, comes when they start wearing a full-turban.
ReplyDeleteA turban, generally, varies from 5 to 8 metres in length (Mine is of about 5 metres).
I do not carry a kirpan at all times, since I am not an ‘amrit-dhaari’ ( http://www.sikhiwiki.org/ index.p…itle=Amritdhari ) Sikh, which essentially means following an even stricter code of conduct in life.
As for ornate kirpans, I believe the ones made by the Swiss-army knife maker Victorinox ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/busin…ess/ 3618258.stm ) look really good, although I am not absolutely sure about current availability or pricing.
Sidhusaaheb | Homepage | 06.02.08 – 2:56 pm | #
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what does the hindi mean there on the walls?
UTP | Homepage | 06.03.08 – 7:10 pm | #
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Actually, it’s Punjabi, written in the Gurmukhi script, as against the Devnagri script, which is used for writing Hindi.
The message, in both cases, as I’ve mentioned in the blog-post, is meant to request members of the congregation to deposit their shoes at the designated place.
To be precise, the signs read, “Saadh Sangat ji, joDay, joDay-ghar wich jamaa karaao ji.” and “Saadh Sangat ji, aapnay joDay joDaa-ghar wich rakho ji.”, respectively.
Sidhusaaheb | Homepage | 06.03.08 – 8:16 pm | #
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Wow
great post – love the pics
Raza Rumi | Homepage | 06.05.08 – 2:23 pm | #