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

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

BAHIR JACHCHH or Bahir Jakkh, a village in Samana tahsil of Patiala district, situated on the left bank of the Sarasvati, a small stream sacred to the Hindus, commemorates the visit of Guru Tegh Bahadur, who is believed to have stayed here with a devotee, Malla, a carpenter by

DHUNI, from Skt. dhvani meaning sound, echo, noise, voice, tone, tune, thunder, stands in Punjabi generally for sound and tune. In the Guru Granth Sahib, the term appears in the sense of tune at the head of 9 of the 22 vars (odes) under different ragas or musical measures. Directions

PAPA (Sanskrit and Pali papa, Prakrit pdva). The word stands for one of the basic concepts of the Indian religious tradition. This concept relates to what is considered religiously and morally evil, an act of body, mind, or speech opposed to what is considered religiously and morally good. In

TILOKA, SETH, a rich merchant of Fatehpur, was a pious Sikh of the time of Guru Arjan. He, accompanied by some other Sikhs, once visited the Guru at Amritsar. Guru Arjan was then engaged in compiling the hymns of the Gurus and bhagats into a single volume. Seth Tiloka

BANNO, BHAI (1558-1645), a prominent Sikh contemporary of Guru Arjan and Guru Hargobind, was the son of Bhai Bishan Dev of village Mangat, also called KharaMangat, Khara being its older name, in Phalia tahsil of Gujrat district (now in Pakistan). He was born on Saturday, Baisakh sudi 13,1615 Bk/

GARU, BHAI, a Vij Khatri, received the rites of initiation at the hands of Guru Arjan. Once he, accompanied by Bhai Haru, also a Vij, and Bhai Chatur Das and Bhai Mula, both Kapur Khatris, waited upon the Guru and raised a question. They said, "While the advice of

PARTAP SINGH. GIANI (1855-1920), Sikh school-man and calligraphist, was born in 1855, the son of Bhai Bhag Singh Giani of Lahore. As a young boy, Partap Singh learnt Punjabi, Urdu and Sanskrit and studied Sikh Scriptures. In 1884, he accompanied Thakur Singh Sandhanvalia to England to read the Guru Granth

VAK, from Sanskrit vaka (sounding, speaking ; a text, recitation or formula) or vakya (speech, saying, statement, declaration, a sentence or period), has a special connotation in the Sikh system. In Sikh terminology, Vak means the command or lesson read from the Guru Granth Sahib. Vak laina or hukam laina

BANVALI, BHAI, and his brother Paras Ram, Brahmans by birth, were devotees of Guru Hargobind. They were professional physicians and, as says Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, they treated Sikhs and holymen free of charge, and went travelling preaching the word of the Guru. Once they asked

GAURI KI VAR, by Guru Ram Das, is one of his seven vars in a total of twenty-two in the Guru Granth Sahib. As the title indicates, the Vdr is cast in the Gauri musical measure a rdga commonly sung in the evening. In Sikh Scripture, Gaun is the