ASA, one of the thirty one ragas or musical measures into which compositions comprising the Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, except the Japu, are cast and in which they are meant to be recited and sung. This raga is important in the Sikh system of music, and is said

NIHAL SINGH THAKUR (1808-1895), Sikh theologian and musician, was born at Amritsar on 7 Phagun 1864 Bk/17 February 1808 to Bhai Mahal Singh and Mata Basi. Bhai Mahal Singh lived in the village of Sayyid ki Sarai in Gujjarkhan tahsil of Rawalpindi district, now in Pakistan, and had come to

MAHALA, traditionally pronounced mahalla, appears in Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, as a special term to credit the authorship of the compositions of the Gurus recorded in it. Mahala here refers to the person of the Guru specified by a numeral following it which signifies his position in the

MANGA, BHAI, a musician by profession was among Guru Nanak`s leading disciples. He has been described by Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 13, as a lover of gurbani or the Guru`s word.

LAKHNAUR, 10 km south of Ambala City (30"23`N, 76"47`E), was the ancestral village of Mata Gujari, mother of Guru Gobind Singh. Returning in 1670 to Patna after his long eastern journey, Guru Tegh Bahadur asked his family to travel straight to Lakhnaur, while he himself made a detour and went

RAM SINGH, a holy man maintaining a dharamsala at Zahura, near Tanda, in Hoshiarpur district, assisted Bhai Maharaj Singh, the leader of the anti British rebellion of 1848-49, not only by lodging him and his followers in his dharamsala but also introducing him to several influential

RAM SINGH (1744-1839), son of a Khatri belonging to Hasanvala in Gujrariwala district, was taken into the household of Charhat Singh Sukkarchakkia at a very young age. When he grew up, he rode in the chief`s troops. He considered Mahan Singh, son of Charhat Singh, his putreld

RAM SINGH (d. 1836), son of Bhagat Singh, descended from the Tsapur branch of the Randhava family founded by his grandfather Dasaundha Singh. Dasaundha Singh, on receiving the Sikh initiatory rites in 1730, entered the service of Adina Beg and remained with him for several years

RAM SINGH (d. 1716), a Bal Jatt of the village of Mirpur Patti in Amritsar district of the Punjab, was the younger brother of Baj Singh, who was appointed governor of the town of Sirhind after it was occupied by Banda Singh Bahadur in May 1710. Ram

RAM SINGH (1639-1714), Ram Chand before receiving the Sikh rites, was an ancestor of the ruling house of Patiala. The second son of Chaudhari Phul, he was married to Sahbi, daughter of one Nanu Bhullar, who gave birth to six sons Dunna, Sahba, Ala Singh, Bakhta,

SAROVAR, a tank, pool or lake, especially at a sacred place or by a holy shrine used for sacramental ablutions and other religious ceremonies. Sanskrit synonyms are sar, sarvar, tarag and vapl. Another word is puskar or puskarini which usually means a pond full of lotus