AKAL BUNGA, lit. the abode of the Timeless One, is the building that houses the Akal Takht in the precincts of the Darbar Sahib at Amritsar. The term is also used sometimes synonymously with Akal Takht. Strictly speaking, while Akal Takht is the institution possessing and exercising

BOLE SO NIHAL, SATI SRI ARAL is the Sikh slogan or jaikara (lit. shout of victory.triumph or exultation). It is divided in two parts or phrases. The first, bole so nihal orjo bole so nihal, is a statement meaning "whoever utters (the phrase following) shall be happy, shall be fulfilled,"

VISAKHA SINGH, SANT (1905-1968), holy preacher of the Sikh faith, was born at the village of Janetpura, in Ludhiana district, on 13 April 1903, the son of Karam Singh and Kahn Kaur, though most of his adult life was spent at Kishanpura, in Firozpur district. He had his early

TANKHAH, from Persian tankhwah, generally meaning pay or salary, has an additional, ironical connotation in Sikh vocabulary. The word in this sense means expiatory penalty levied upon a Sikh from breach of rahit, i.e. the prescribed code of conduct or of a vow religiously made. This use of the

TAKHT, Persian word meaning a throne or royal seat, has, besides its common literal use, other connotations in the Sikh tradition. In Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh Scripture, phrases such as sachcha takht (true throne) and pura takht (perfect throne) have been used to signify God`s seat of divine justice.

SUBEG SINGH (d. 1745), an eighteenth century martyr of the Sikh faith, was born to Rai Bhaga of the village of Jambar in Lahore district. He learnt Arabic and Persian as a young man and later gained access to the Mughal officials as a government, contractor. When in 1733, the

SADHU SINGH BHAURA, JATHEDAR (1905-1984), Sikh missionary who rose to be the Jathedar or high priest of Sri Akal Takhat, Amritsar, was born the son of Bhai Ran Singh and Mai Atam Kaur, on 6 June 1905 at Chakk No. 7, a village in Lyallpur district (now in Pakistan).

PRATAP SINGH, GIANI (1904-1984). preacher, journalist and author, was the son of Bhai Makkhan Singh and Mat Mathura Devi of the village of Nara in Rawalpindi district of the Punjab (now in Pakistan). Born on 3 January 1904, he learnt Gurmukhi and scripture reading at home and passed his

NISHAN SAHIB is the name for the tall Sikh flag which marks all gurudwaras and other religious premises of the Sikhs. Nishdn is a Persian word with multiple meanings, one of these being a flag or standard. Sahib, an Arabic word with the applied meaning of lord or master, is

KIRPAL SINGH, SINGH SAHIB GIANI (1918-1993), theologian and writer, was born on 10 June 1918, the son of Bhai Mall Singh and Bibi Rani Kaur, a Brar Jatt family of the village of Vairoke in Moga tufis`il of Firozpur district (now in district Faridkot). He passed his middle school

GUKBILAS CHHEVIN PATSHAHl, lit. the (life)play of the Sixth Guru, is a versified biography of Guru Hargobind in language more akin to Braj, written in the Gurmukhi script. The author is anonymous, though the colophon mentions 1775 Bk/AD 1718 as the year of the completion of the work. The task,

CHAUNKI or Chauki, lit. quarter, a four footed wooden platform upon which sat the holy choir to recite the sacred hymns in a gurdwara or at a gathering of the devotees. The term chaunki also refers to a session of kirtan or hymn singing, the number of singers at such