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

KATHA is the noun form of the Sanskrit word kath, meaning to speak, describe, narrate or interpret. In religious terminology, kathd stands for exposition, analysis and discussion of a passage from a scripture. It involves a full length discourse on a given text, with a proper enunciation of it and

KANRE KI VAR, by Guru Ram Das, is one of the twenty-two compositions entered in the Guru Granth Sahib under the rubric of vdr. Like oilier vdrs it is assigned to a specific musical measure Kanra, in this instance. At the head of the Vdr is recorded by Guru

KIRTAN (from Skt. kirii, i.e. to praise, celebrate or glorify), a commonly accepted mode of rendering devotion to God by singing His praises, is a necessary part of Sikh worship. Music plays a significant role in most religious traditions. In Sikhism it is valued as the highest form of expression

If you pray fraudulently in your mind, what is the need of going to Ka\'bah .for a Å«^/ ? (Prabhali Kabir, p. 1350) The Sheikh (Muslim divine) without the quality of sabar (patience)—why should he go to Ka\'bab for a hajj, says Kabir ? The one who has no

LAVAN is the title traditionally given a short fourslan/a composition by Guru Ram Das included under rdga Suhi (p. 773) in the Guru Granth Sahib. The word Idvdn, in the Indian tradition, also stands for the marriage ceremony: in Hindu society the couple reverentially circumambulates the holy fire to

MAIA, BHAI, a Lamb Khatri of Suhand, identified as Sirhind by Bhai Kahn Singh, Gurushabad Ratnakar Mahan Kosh, was a devotee of Guru Hargobind. He regularly participated in the sangat and sang the holy hymns. According to Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, he once asked the Guru,

MAKKHAN SHAH, son of Naik Dase Shah, was a wealthy trader of the Lubana clan. He hailed from the village of Tanda, in present day Muzaffarabad district of Jammu and Kashmir. He was a devout Sikh and had received Guru Har Rai in his home during the latter\'s visit

MELA SINGH, SANT (1784-1854), holy saint and preacher of the Sikh faith, was born in 1784 at Kotchari, a village in Bagh tahsil of the present Punchh district of Jammu and Kashmir. He was only eleven years of age when his father, BhaT Makkhan Singh, a pious Sikh convert from

NIRANJAN SINGH, SANT (1922-1994). Fair complexioned, and blue eyed, Giani Sant Niranjan Singh was nurtured on several branches of learning, old and new. He was especially interested in vedanta and nydya. He was also well read in Panini. All his life he remained immersed in Sikh letters.

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