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01/10/2007

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Surinder Singh (left) and Gurcharan Singh stand by as Harjeet Singh Sudan sings the Guru Granth Sahib (holy book) at the Golden Triangle Sikh Association Temple near Petersburg, west of Kitchener. The Guru Granth Sahib was decreed to be the supreme spiritual leader of the Sikh faith in the early 1700s. MIRKO PETRICEVIC, RECORD STAFF


GURU GOBIND SINGH

If you're not a Sikh, the name Guru Gobind Singh probably doesn't mean much to you. But he is the man responsible for the images that likely form in your head when you hear the word Sikh.

Jan. 5, 1666 is recognized as Guru Gobind Singh's birthday. So this weekend Sikhs in Waterloo Region and around the world are celebrating the birthday of their 10th and last human guru.

According to Sikh tradition, it was a family tragedy that propelled Guru Gobind Singh to make his distinctive mark on the Sikh community for centuries.

Born in India, the future Sikh guru was only about nine when Muslim Mogul rulers beheaded his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur.

At the time, Sikhs didn't dress differently from other people in India, explains Chattar Ahuja, spokesperson for the Golden Triangle Sikh Association Temple near Petersburg.

When the Mogul leader called on the executed Guru's followers to take his body home, Sikhs were slow to respond.

"People were afraid to come forward,"Ahuja says.

Guru Gobind Singh subsequently inherited the role of spiritual leader of the Sikh community. He prayed for wisdom and that Sikhs would be brave and stand out from the crowd in future, Ahuja says.

More than two decades later, he established the practices that would mark Sikhs for centuries.

In the spring of 1699, Guru Gobind Singh called followers to assemble in his home town of Anandpur and when about 80,000 people had gathered he made an unusual request.

"He asked for a head," Ahuja says.

One man stood up and walked into a tent with the Guru. Then the Guru returned alone, holding a bloody sword and asked for another volunteer.

Five times he entered the tent and five times he came out, Ahuja says.

Each time, he carried a bloody sword.

But the fifth time, Ahuja says, the Guru emerged from the tent with all five volunteers.

They were still alive, but now they were wearing the five items that to this day make Sikhs distinctive -- a turban over unshorn hair (called kesh), a small comb (kanga), a steel wrist band (kara), long underpants (kacha) and a sword or dagger (kirpan). Sikhs call them the Five Ks.

Guru Gobind Singh announced that the five volunteers had taken amrit (a ritual initiation) into the Khalsa (Order of the Pure). Then, Ahuja says, the Guru knelt before the five Khalsa members and asked them to initiate him.

In the modern world, not all Sikhs wear the Five Ks. And not all those who wear the Five Ks have taken amrit.

Guru Gobind Singh also bestowed upon Sikhs the surnames of Singh (lion) for men and Kaur (princess) for women.

According to Paramjit Singh, secretary of the Sikh temple near Cambridge, the Guru wanted every person to be treated equally.

In some countries, surnames reflect a person's wealth or social status, Paramjit Singh explains.

"If you have (the surname) Singh, it doesn't matter if you're high, low or middle (class). Everybody's the same."

Paramjit Singh says he adopted Singh as his name as a child and took amrit four years ago.

Sikhs taking amrit promise to follow a code of conduct, the Rehat Maryada, which in part mandates belief in one universal God and the equality of humanity. It also prescribes daily prayers and restrictions on consuming intoxicants.

The rituals and obligations that accompany amrit and the wearing of the Five Ks do not make his life more difficult, Paramjit Singh says. Instead, they give him a distinct identity,

"I'm proud of my Sikhism," he says.

But identity can be a double-edged sword.

In Arizona, for example, a Sikh man was shot and killed shortly after the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. The attacker mistook the victim for a Muslim, some of whom also wear turbans.

Since then, Paramjit Singh says, there have been many advertisements and TV programs publicizing the Sikh practice of wearing turbans. In his 15 years in Canada, he says, his appearance hasn't made him a target for racism or attacks.

Guru Gobind Singh made another major contribution to Sikhism before his death in 1708.

Instead of naming a successor, he declared that he would be the last human guru.

From then on, he decreed, the supreme spiritual leader of Sikhs would be their holy book -- the Guru Granth Sahib.

Composed of 5,894 hymns written by Sikh gurus, Hindu and Muslim saints, the faithful treat the Guru Granth Sahib with the reverence of a living guru.

At the temple near Petersburg, copies of the holy book "sleep" on a four-poster bed adorned with sheer curtains. Every morning, prayer leaders sing at bedside and carry one of the books reverently to the temple's prayer hall, where it rests on a special platform under a canopy.

The Guru Granth Sahib will feature prominently during celebrations to mark Guru Gobind Singh's birthday this weekend. A continuous reading of the holy book, lasting more than 48 hours, was to begin yesterday morning and continue until tomorrow.

The words of the Guru Granth Sahib are not simply read -- they're always sung, notes Darrol Bryant, a professor of religion and culture at Renison College in Waterloo.

"This is one of the really, absolutely unique things about the Sikh tradition."

The practise of singing the Scripture raises fundamental questions about how adherents derive all of their teachings, doctrines and ethics, Bryant says.

"Words put to music are different than other kinds of discourse. They mean different things."

The practice demonstrates that mere words about God are inadequate, Bryant said.

"We can never capture God in words. We can never capture God in concepts. God is always beyond us. Language is, at best, pointer language that tries to get us to this 'beyond.'

"Music is expressive of that conviction," Bryant adds. "That God always exceeds us and I find that really quite impressive."

mpetricevic@therecord.com

WEEKEND EVENTS

Similar celebrations are taking place this weekend at Waterloo Region's two Sikh temples, which followers of the faith call gurdwaras.

In Wilmot Township, celebrations are taking place at the Golden Triangle Sikh Association Temple, 2070 Snyder's Rd. E., near Petersburg.

In North Dumfries Township, celebrations are at the Siri Guru Singh Sabha gurdwara, 1401 Roseville Rd., west of Cambridge.

Akhand Path, a 48-hour continuous reading of the Guru Granth Sahib, was to begin yesterday at 10 a.m. and continue until tomorrow morning.

Afterward, special services will be held. A traditional langar meal is served at both locations.

THE FIVE KS OF SIKHISM

In 1699 Guru Gobind Singh, 10th and last human Sikh Guru, established the Khalsa (Order of the Pure). To make Sikhs identifiable in a crowd, he instituted the practice known as the Five Ks.

Kesh (unshorn hair)

"To signify the natural form given by God," explains Chattar Ahuja, spokesperson for the Golden Triangle Sikh Association Temple, located near Petersburg.

Kacha (boxer-style underwear)

In India at the time of the Guru, Ahuja says, underwear was shorter. In longer underwear, Sikhs would maintain modesty if they had to spring from bed in the night to fight.

"So Sikhs were always prepared to fight to protect."

Kanga (small comb worn in the hair)

"To keep the hair clean," Ahuja said.

Kara (steel bracelet)

Worn "to symbolize your love to God or dedication to God," Ahuja explains.

Kirpan (sword or dagger)

"To fight injustice . . . to protect the innocent," Ahuja says.

Sikhism does allow followers to remove kirpans for short periods, for airline flights, for example, or while undergoing surgery, adds Paramjit Singh, secretary of the Siri Guru Singh Sabha temple near Cambridge.



Near the end of the 17th century, Guru Gobind Singh introduced the dress code and practices that to this day make Sikhism a distinctive faith. Area Sikhs are gathering this weekend to honour his memory MIRKO PETRICEVIC

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