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Explore the spiritual essence of Anjulia by Guru Arjan in the Guru Granth Sahib. Discover lessons on meditation, materialism, and divine will.

Discover the legacy of Attar Singh, a 19th-century scholar and nobleman from Punjab with expertise in languages and strong ties with the British.

Explore the revered title 'Baba,' from its Persian roots to Sikh history, signifying respect and piety for revered leaders like Baba Ala Singh and Baba Buddha.

BHAI, of Indo Aryan origin (Sanskrit bhratr, Pali bhaya), means brother in its literal sense and is employed as an honorific as well as in the dominant familial sense and as a title of affection between equals. It has been used in the Guru Granth Sahib in the latter sense and there are several apostrophic examples none of which seems to imply any special rank or status. However, by the middle of the seventeenth century, it was being used as a title implying distinction: the earliest example is the Bala Janam Sakhi (AD 1658) which refers to its putative author as Bhai Bala. The naturalness of its use in this particular context suggests that it must have developed the honorific connotation even earlier though it does not necessarily follow that these connotations were clearly apprehended in earlier usage.

BIR MRIGESH, full title SRI BIR MRIGESH GURBILAS DEV TARU, is a voluminous nineteenth century work by Bhai Sher Singh, a disciple of Baba Khuda Singh (1786-1861), who completed it in 1911. In bold Gurmukhi typography, the book runs to 1912 pages, divided into two parts comprising 847 and 1065 pages, respectively. It contains accounts, in ample detail, of the lives of Baba Sahib Singh Bedi, Baba Bhag Singh of Kuri, Baba Bir Singh of Naurangabad and Baba Khuda Singh. The author refers to these luminaries as guru and calls his book gurbilas (biography of the Gurus).

CHALI MUKTE, lit. forty (chalf) liberated ones (mukte), is how a band of 40 brave Sikhs who laid down their lives fighting near the dhab or lake of Khidrana, also called Isharsar, on 29 December 1705 against a Mughal force in chase of Guru Gobind Singh are remembered in Sikh history and daily in the Sikh ardas or supplicatory prayer offered individually or at gatherings at the end of all religious services. Guru Gobind Singh, who had watched the battle from a nearby mound praised the martyrs` valour and blessed them as Chali Mukte, the Forty Immortals. After them Khidrana became Muktsar the Pool of Liberation.