Role and equality of Women in Sikhism

“We are conceived and born from women. Woman is our life-long friend and keeps the race going. Why should we despise her, the one who gives birth to great Kings?”

                                                                                                        ...Guru Nanak Dev ji 

In Sikhism woman has all the rights and privileges enjoyed by a man. She is considered to have the same soul as man and has equal right to grow spiritually. The Sikh woman is allowed to lead religious congregations, to take part in Akhand Path (the continuous recitation of the Holy Scriptures), to perform Kirtan, to work as Granthi (priest) or a preacher and to participate freely in all religious, cultural, social, political and secular activities.

Sikh history records the names of several women, such as Mata Gujri Mai Bhago, Mata Sundari, Rani Sahib Kaur, Rani Sada Kaur and Maharani Jind Kaur, who played important roles in the events of their time.

 

   Mai Bhago (Mata Bhag Kaur) led Sikh Army in 1705 against Mughals.

 

The Sikh Gurus raised their voice against the evils prevalent in society with regard to women. The evil rite of sati (burning alive with the dead body of the husband), infanticide of the girl child, veil, etc. were opposed. Because of the Muslim influence, observance of Sati ritual was becoming very common. The Guru-poets have explained the real import of being a ‘sati’ and opposed burning of women with the dead bodies of their husbands and said that a ‘true sati’ is a woman who regards her spouse as God, and lives a life of chastity after his death, in the following words –

Satia eh na akhian jo madhyaan lag jalann
Nanak satiya janian jo birha chot marann.(p.787)
(A sati is not the one who burns herself on the pyre.
Sayeth Nanak a true sati dies of shock of demise.)

Now days Sikh Women are in good position in India also around the world.  She is a successful Politician, business Woman and also Soldier.

What are Sikh Belief?

 

 

 

God

·        There is only one God

·        God is without form, or gender

·        Everyone has direct access to God

·        Everyone is equal before God

·        A good life is lived as part of a community, by living honestly and caring for others

·        Empty religious rituals and superstitions have no value

Living in God and community

Sikhs focus their lives around their relationship with God, and being a part of the Sikh community. The Sikh ideal combines action and belief. To live a good life a person should do good deeds as well as meditating on God.

God and the cycle of life

Sikhs believe that human beings spend their time in a cycle of birth, life, and rebirth. They share this belief with followers of other Indian religious traditions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

 The quality of each particular life depends on the law of Karma. Karma sets the quality of a life according to how well or badly a person behaved in their previous life. The only way out of this cycle, which all faiths regard as painful, is to achieve a total knowledge of and union with God.

 The God of grace  

Sikh spirituality is centered round this need to understand and experience God, and eventually become one with God.  

To do this a person must switch the focus of their attention from themselves to God. They get this state, which is called mukti (liberation), through the grace of God. That means it's something God does to human beings, and not something that human beings can earn. However, God shows people through holy books, and by the examples of saints, the best ways to get close to him.

Truth is the highest of all virtues, but higher still is truthful living.

 Sikhs believe that God can't be understood properly by human beings, but he can be experienced through love, worship, and contemplation.

Sikhs look for God both inside themselves and in the world around them. They do this to help themselves achieve liberation and union with God.

 Getting close to God

When a Sikh wants to see God, they look both at the created world and into their own heart and soul.

Their aim is to see the divine order that God has given to everything, and through it to understand the nature of God.

 Most human beings can’t see the true reality of God because they are blinded by their own self-centred pride (Sikhs call it haumain) and concern for physical things.

God inside us

 Sikhs believe that God is inside every person, no matter how wicked they appear, and so everyone is capable of change.

 Just as fragrance is in the flower, and reflection is in the mirror, in just the same way, God is within you.

 God beyond ourselves

 Sikhs believe that God’s message can be found in several ways outside ourselves.

·        The message is written in the whole of creation; look at it with open eyes and see the truth of God, for creation is the visible message of God

·        Sikhs believe that most of us misunderstand the universe. We think that it exists on its own, when it really exists because God wills it to exist, and is a portrait of God’s own nature

·        The message has been shown to us by the Gurus in their lives and in their words

·        The message is set down in the teachings of scripture

 

Living a good life in this world

Sikhs don't think it pleases God if people pay no attention to others and simply devote themselves slavishly to religion.

Sikhism doesn’t ask people to turn away from ordinary life to get closer to God. In fact it demands that they use ordinary life as a way to get closer to God.  

A Sikh serves God by serving (seva) other people every day. By devoting their lives to service they get rid of their own ego and pride.  

Many Sikhs carry out chores in the Gurdwara as their service to the community. These range from working in the kitchen to cleaning the floor. The Langar, or free food kitchen, is a community act of service.  

Sikhs also regard caring for the poor or sick as an important duty of service.

 The three duties  

The three duties that a Sikh must carry out can be summed up in three words; Pray, Work, Give.

·        Nam japna: Keeping God in mind at all times.  

·        Kirt Karna: Earning an honest living. Since God is truth, a Sikh seeks to live honestly. This doesn't just mean avoiding crime; Sikhs avoid gambling, begging, or working in the alcohol or tobacco industries.

·        Vand Chhakna: (Literally, sharing one's earnings with others) Giving to charity and caring for others.

 The five vices

 Sikhs try to avoid the five vices that make people self-centred, and build barriers against God in their lives.

•       Lust

·        Covetousness and greed

·        Attachment to things of this world

·        Anger

·        Pride

If a person can overcome these vices they are on the road to liberation.

 ... Source BBC.

Gatka - A Sikh Martial Art

Every country has its own Martial Arts. They have also good history in developing these arts. India also has many martial arts which are backed by good histories. One of the famous martial art in North-West India is Gatka.

Gatka (Punjabi: ਗਤਕਾ gatkā) is a weapon-based martial art associated with the Punjab region. It has also traditionally been practiced by other ethno cultural groups in India and Pakistan. The word gatka properly refers to the wooden sticks which were used for sparring. It might have originated from the Sanskrit word for sword (khadga), or it may derive from the Persian khat. While it is primarily an armed fighting style, gatka also incorporates pehlwani as part of its empty-handed training component.

Gatka originated in what is now northwest India and neighboring Pakistan, its techniques ultimately rooted in the fighting methods of the medieval Panjab is, Rajputs, Gurjaras and the Kshatriya caste in general. These techniques are termed shastar vidiya, originally used in reference to sword-fighting but also a generic word for armed combat. The Sikhs in particular became renowned throughout India for their heavily martial culture. Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion, was born into a Kshatriya family, as were many of his first disciples. His successor, Guru Angad Dev, taught followers to train the body physically, mentally and spiritually, encouraging the practice of martial arts. The sixth Sikh patriarch, Guru Hargobind, propagated the theory of the warrior-saint and emphasized the need to practice fighting for self-defense against the Mughal rulers who, during the reign of Aurangazeb, attempted to forcibly convert Hindus and Sikhs to Islam.

The tenth patriarch, Guru Gobind Singh was a master of shastar vidiya who galvanized the martial energies of the Sikh community by founding the Khalsa brotherhood in 1699. The Khalsa's aims were to fight oppression, assist the poor, worship the one God, abandon superstition, and defend the faith. This is symbolized by the kirpan or dagger, one of the five Ks which every baptized Sikh is required to carry. In regards to training the brotherhood, Guru Gobind Singh pledged that he would "teach the sparrow to fight the hawk". The Akali Nihang, a stricter order of Sikh warriors, exemplified his principles of combining spirituality with combat training.

Following the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1848 to 1849 and the establishment of the British Raj, the Sikh martial traditions and practitioners suffered greatly. Ever wary of the Sikhs, the British ordered effective disarmament of the entire Sikh community. The Akali Nihang, considered the keepers of all Sikh traditions, were regarded as disloyal to the colonists. More than 1,500 nihang were killed by the British for plotting rebellion. According to folklore, some fled and spent the rest of their lives in the northern mountains.

During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Sikhs assisted the British in crushing the mutiny. As a consequence of this assistance, restrictions on fighting practices were relaxed, but the martial arts which re-emerged after 1857 had changed significantly. The new style applied the sword-fighting techniques to the wooden training-stick. It was referred to as gatka, after its primary weapon. Gatka was used mainly by the khalsa Army in the 1860s as practice for hand-to-hand combat. As Sikh colleges opened during the 1880s, European rules of fencing were applied to create what is now called khelor sport gatka. The other techniques and weapons of traditional shaster vidiyawere taught to experienced students as rasmi or ritual.

The European colonists also brought Sikhs from India to other British colonies to work as soldiers and security guards. Gatka is still practiced by the Sikh communities of former British colonies and neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatka

Holla Mohalla

                                      

Hola Mohalla is actually an annual fair that is organised in a large scale at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab (India) on the day following the festival of Holi. Practise of holding a fair of this kind was initiated by Guru Gobind Singh (1666 – 1708), the tenth Sikh guru. Purpose of the fair was to physically strengthen the Sikh community by holding military exercises and mock battles.

The festival is celebrated for three consecutive days, in which members of Sikh community display their physical strength by performing dare-devil acts like bareback horse-riding, standing erect on two speeding horses, Gatka (tradition sikh martial art), tent pegging etc. This is followed by music and poetry competition to lighten the charged up atmosphere.
 

 

 
 A number of durbars are also held where Sri Guru Granth Sahib is present and kirtan and religious lectures take place. This helps strengthening the soul of community. On the last day a long procession, led by Panj Pyaras, starts from Takth Keshgarh Sahib, one of the five Sikh religious seats, and passes through various important gurdwaras like Qila Anandgarh, Lohgarh Sahib, Mata Jitoji and terminates at the Takth.

For people visiting Anandpur Sahib, langars (voluntary community kitchens) are organized by the local people as a part of sewa (community service). Raw materials like wheat flour, rice, vegetables, milk and sugar is provided by the villagers living nearby. Women volunteer to cook and others take part in cleaning the utensils. Traditional cuisine is served to the pilgrims who eat while sitting in rows on the ground. Read More

                             Sikhs are showing dare-devil act during Hola Mohalla.