Recently PBS’s
”
Masterpiece Theatre
”
presented a thoughtful miniseries entitled
”
The Jury,
”
a fictional account of a Sikh teenager on trial in London for
the murder of a classmate.
Recently PBS’s “Masterpiece Theatre” presented a thoughtful miniseries entitled “The Jury,” a fictional account of a Sikh teenager on trial in London for the murder of a classmate.
Then the “San Jose Mercury News” printed an informative article about the Sikh community in the South Bay, highlighting a new $20 million “gurdwara” (temple) being built on 40 acres in the Evergreen area of San Jose and mentioning future plans to build one in Morgan Hill.
These two events motivated me to do some research on Sikhs (pronounced “seeks”), members of one of the lesser-known major world religions: 23 million adherents, at least 250,000 in the Bay Area, perhaps 50,000 in Santa Clara County).
Sikhism was founded in the Punjab region of northern India in the 15th century by Guru (teacher) Nanak. He wrote beautiful devotional hymns and set out such basic doctrines as worship of one God and the practice of virtues like honesty, compassion, patience and generosity.
This faith combines elements of Hinduism and Islam. Nanak taught that in both these religions the truth about God was obscured by unnecessary ritual. He believed that one could become closer to God through meditation and devotion rather than ceremonies. He rejected India’s caste system and taught that all people are equal while emphasizing that salvation comes through rejection of worldly values and practice of tolerance and brotherly love toward all.
Guru Nanak was succeeded over the centuries by nine more gurus who developed the religion more fully and founded the sacred city of Amritsar (with its magnificent Golden Temple). They built other temples, provided for observation of festivals and compiled the sacred scripture known as the “Guru Ganth Sahib.”
Worship services are held in a temple and feature the singing of hymns with musical accompaniment, lectures, prayer and end with sharing a sweet bread pudding called “Karah Parshad.” Sikhs remove their shoes and cover their heads during worship to show respect.
Persecution by the mughal (Muslim) authorities in India led to the founding of a Sikh self-defense brotherhood called the “Khalsa” (meaning “pure”). Members vowed to avoid liquor, drugs, tobacco and to devote themselves to prayer. Male Sikhs who desire to join this order go through a baptism rite and take the name of “Singh” (meaning “lion”). This led to the distinctive appearance of many Sikh men which involves “the five K’s” or emblems: uncut hair and beards (hence the wearing of turbans), a comb to hold the hair in place, a “Kirpan” (dagger), a steel bracelet and pants that do not go below the knees.
At the end of the 18th century, Sikhs finally achieved independence under their own ruler, but the British annexed the Punjab to India in 1849. Since then there have been many bloody conflicts between the Indian government and Sikh separatists who wish to establish an independent nation called Khalistan from the Indian state of Punjab.
