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Summary of Question:	Sikh Statues
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Tuesday, 7/10/2001 1:35 PM MDT

Many cultures and religions have statues and portraits of their famous prophets, but the sikh religion does not believe that statues and pictures should not be worshipped as a way of remembering famous sikh prophets. So why do many sikhs continue to build statues of famous sikhs in history such as Maharaja Dulip Singh and Maharaja Ranjit Singh?

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REPLY
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Sat Siri Akaal Ji. No. Sikh faith disapproves of WORSHIPPING any statue or photo of Guru (or anyone else) as God, since Sikhi believes that God is both Formless and in All That Exists. The people you cite above, while famous in Sikh history, were not Gurus. The key words here are worship and Guru. While one could argue about the appropriateness of having a statue of either of the Maharajas you mention, no one is WORSHIPPING them as God or Guru.
-DKK