INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

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etold in Varanasi, Guru Nanak visited the village of Hasan Abdal in present Pakistan with his companion Mardana. When Mardana was feeling thirsty Guru Nanak advised him to bring water from a fakir who kept a spring on a mountain. Upon being informed that Nanak was an incarnation of God in kaliyug, the fakir became jealous and refused Mardana water, saying that a divine incarnation should be able to conjure his own spring. To challenge the fakir Guru Nanak opened a new spring, which eventually drained all water from the fakir’s spring. In anger the fakir threw down a large rock which Guru Nanak stopped by raising one hand. In the two paintings the local artist has kept recognizable appearances and attributes of the Sikh Gurus as in standardized bazaar posters, but reversed the their typical postures and acts: Guru Nanak is attentively present and acts in the world, while Guru Gobind Singh is mediating in tranquility. The painter has exploited his artistic freedom to combine distinctive features of Guru Gobind Singh with popular images of a Hindu character who also practices austerities in the Himalayas: Lord Shiva. On a leopard skin floating on the celestial lake, the disarmed Gobind Singh sits in the yoga posture with his eyes closed. All attributes of weapons are present but laid down and spread around him. He wears a saffron-colored turban with a steel discus on top and his right hand holds a rosary. Similar to popular pictures of the contemplating Shiva, his body is covered with the skin of a leopard. The scenes of the two anecdotes which have posed as models for the paintings ‒ Hemkunt Sahib and Panja Sahib ‒ are two cherished pilgrimage sites in the Sikh community today. 242 To Sikhs who have visited these sites the paintings can function as schematic mementos that trigger memory of the related stories, personal experiences of past pilgrimages, and conduce mental re-visits. 243 The paintings may also work as didactic means to remember stories of the Gurus’ wonders and evoke imaginative pilgrimages to places that people have heard of but never been able to visit. These narrative pictures are yet dependent on verbal data to realize the meanings they may obtain. Discourses and action events outside the paintings provide the context in which the visual representations are embedded and given meanings. During festival days the paintings are taken out in city processions and displayed to spectators not necessarily familiar with the narrative tradition. On these occasions the paintings metonymically demonstrate publicly acknowledged Sikh virtues and signs. The interaction between spectators and the body of Sikhs displaying paintings creates a 242 It is noteworthy that almost a half of my informants in the semi-structured interviews asserted they had been on pilgrimage to Hemkunt Sahib, while Panja Sahib was a more difficult destination because of its location in the town Hasan Abdal in Pakistan. 243 In modern gurdwaras outside India, it is quite common to decorate the walls behind the scriptural throne with large pictures or paintings of Harimandir Sahib in Amritsar. These pictures are often painted in more exaggerated colours, sometimes with illuminations, and are intentionally placed at locations where they will meet the eyes of the congregation. Apart for purely decorative purposes the pictures may evoke memories and imaginaries of Harimandir Sahib, even imaginary revisits, to all who have been on pilgrimage to Amritsar. 108 Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008
living moment during which examples of principal circumstances in Sikh history and characteristic deeds of the Gurus’ are mediated and give legitimacy to a collective past. 109 Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008
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Kristina Myrvold INSIDE THE GURU’
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Kristina Myrvold INSIDE THE GURU’
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Published on www.anpere.net in May
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PREFACE My research on the Sikhs in
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Singh Mann. He has provided me much
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CONTENTS PREFACE CONTENTS LIST OF F
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3. FROM MANTRAS TO UNBROKEN READING
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Seeking Divine Assistance 426 The H
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L I S T O F F IGURES 1. Sikh popula
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INTRODUCTION When I first arrived a
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on Sikh conceptualizations and inte
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and suffer from physical or mental
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language and society. 10 In respons
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should focus on the culture-specifi
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At the same time an oral transmissi
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take up a great deal of space. The
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compositions for those who lived an
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debates, Douglas (1970) observed th
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itual theorists in recent decades h
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Humphrey & Laidlaw’s claim to pre
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their reasons and motives for engag
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ety. 75 Instead I made the study ce
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had witnessed and confirmed that I
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a method, which implies patience, h
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division which grants women an acti
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O N E THE SIKHS IN VARANASI IN SEA
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the life and deeds of Guru Nanak. T
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ies and how these processes are ins
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particular ethnic background. The s
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appeared before Guru Tegh Bahadur w
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NANAK-PANTHIS AND PUNJABI SINGHS In
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who were “wholly of a worldly and
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litical actions would creep into th
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POST-PARTITION In the Census report
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to move to the house of their husba
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taught through individual reading p
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The historical presence of Punjabi
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Page 77 and 78: propagate the Sikh religion. For Ba
Page 79 and 80: The Khalsa ceremony itself is pregn
Page 81 and 82: sify their religion as a synthesis
Page 83 and 84: vented Jhulelal as the prime God of
Page 85 and 86: HISTORY OF THE GURDWARA COMMITTEE A
Page 87 and 88: venerated family members, who natur
Page 89 and 90: the city testify that Sabharwal was
Page 91 and 92: near the airport in the outskirts o
Page 93 and 94: thorities consequently shut up the
Page 95 and 96: campus. This changed drastically wi
Page 97 and 98: Another popular non-profit organiza
Page 99 and 100: micro-discursive accomplishment tha
Page 101 and 102: identity to maintain a separate tra
Page 103 and 104: The Valaitvali Janam-sakhi carries
Page 105 and 106: events are plotted according to a m
Page 107 and 108: Gurus. Other Nirmala establishments
Page 109 and 110: of the story. This is accomplished
Page 111 and 112: Ram pursued this knowledge from the
Page 113 and 114: The three pandits are also attribut
Page 115 and 116: transformation of those in the soci
Page 117 and 118: assistance. It held a small room ar
Page 119 and 120: commemoration day of Guru Tegh Baha
Page 121 and 122: nectar-water. 233 Subsequently, all
Page 123 and 124: often epitomize key persons and mom
Page 125: Guru Gobind Singh meditates in the
Page 129 and 130: T W O INSIDE THE GURU’S GATE CON
Page 131 and 132: don’t have a guru there will be d
Page 133 and 134: speaking of interaction contexts th
Page 135 and 136: Nanak perceived himself as a messen
Page 137 and 138: K: So were the Sikh Gurus of divine
Page 139 and 140: irth in the form of Guru Nanak Dev
Page 141 and 142: During his life time he waved the c
Page 143 and 144: “Nanak says” within individual
Page 145 and 146: answers are indicative of the exten
Page 147 and 148: procession to Amritsar. To honor th
Page 149 and 150: IMPLICATIONS OF SCRIPTURAL SUCCESSI
Page 151 and 152: shown that cosmologies and systems
Page 153 and 154: With the shift of authority, the sa
Page 155 and 156: divine messages and enjoy the same
Page 157 and 158: Local Sikhs will say that the Guru
Page 159 and 160: PERSONIFYING A TEXT For students of
Page 161 and 162: oth persons and inanimate “things
Page 163 and 164: they also construct and maintain so
Page 165 and 166: ciprocity, either for purely devoti
Page 167 and 168: keeping langar can be traced back t
Page 169 and 170: A JURIDICAL PERSON Perhaps the most
Page 171 and 172: Guru. In a practice-oriented approa
Page 173 and 174: large number of sites and buildings
Page 175 and 176: or on the roof terrace. One family
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gurdwara, or when they visit Sikh p
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said that people pay respect to Nis
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Nishan sahib in the courtyard, and
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Gurus and weapons that have belonge
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people”. To set up a place at whi
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emnizing Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind
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scriptures at their houses may visi
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ply the audience with an expositive
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ized undertakings, such as collecti
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edroom, between which the scripture
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ple in the ordinary social structur
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To illustrate the significances whi
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mon identity in the egalitarian com
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the time of our conversations and c
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MEDIATORS OF GURBANI In Varanasi th
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to neighboring congregations. The r
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GRACED GUIDES Whereas the above-men
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audiocassettes and distributed worl
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The performers I interviewed had ga
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for an aspiring granthi, Bhai Jiopa
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tation practices, which from a reli
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ing. He should know the full Ardas
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lieved to make his performances mor
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pages is eternal and will never be
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were hard to read and required that
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When SGPC released the first one-vo
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ture is thus conceived as a Guru to
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prior to the physical touching of b
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Sangat cleaning the road Panj Py
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order to keep the route pure in hon
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ered. In equally many homes the you
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ises do not satisfy these requireme
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establishes new bonds between the G
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the ashes in large bedecked urns an
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tion conducted the cremation ceremo
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congregate in the scriptural hospic
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Granth Sahib has its own life-cycle
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T H R E E FROM MANTRAS TO UNBROKEN
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ogy has made it possible to mass-pr
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The ultimate learning of gurbani is
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social life and mind. As such, reci
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night, which marks the break of a n
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the hair is veiled and the feet are
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ought to an end by reading Kirtan S
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MEMORIZED HYMNS (Number of informan
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Looking at the ways in which Amritd
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etween human and God, either to see
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India, the notion of chilla denotes
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able to complete and make a promise
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ecited after the Guru Granth Sahib
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(Akhand path), which is to be perfo
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RECITING THE GURU GRANTH SAHIB Sinc
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The Sikhs have developed various sy
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work in Varanasi I quickly lost cou
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formance has been located to the do
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of the scripture in one hour, but t
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Hukam and render the verse twice be
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professional reciters who read in r
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of an Akhand path performed after t
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cal savour of the divine that is be
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(path), music (kirtan) and distribu
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The two types of nectars have power
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The Guru’s wife added sugar becau
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water. An elderly Amritdhari woman,
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the musical components of kirtan sh
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and genuine. Preserving the origina
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standings and experiences of gurban
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DAILY SERVICES In a gurdwara there
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Whichever of these ragas they selec
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mind and affects the audience’s p
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verses and the fortieth verse of th
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to understand. Because of the scrip
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anecdotes with quoted hymns. 529 On
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moral point or a religious idea in
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discussions in the congregation and
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and sangat-pangat - the holy congre
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- “This will happen. I have decid
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Bhai Gurdas (1551-1636), the term V
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liable to spirit possession and oth
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devotional activities. The young ma
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the name. The musician may lead the
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Simran sadhna on cassette In additi
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modern interpretations of the Sikh
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Guru Gobind Singh when he formed th
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ATTENTIVE BODY POSTURE The most dis
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Thy command. Thine condition and ex
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all the desires and tasks are accom
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easons and motives. In the textual
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The rendering of Ardas thus stands
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God. Seva has power to cultivate hu
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of the divine name, to emphasize th
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heavy mud. When Sikhs became aware
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Although the perfect devotee should
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eing presented as offerings to the
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F O U R PRACTICES IN TIMES OF ORDE
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following descriptive account on Si
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pregnancy. 590 When a newly wed cou
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themes of a written gurbani hymn de
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ery, unless she falls ill or for so
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It is noteworthy that the amrit giv
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while uttering the name of God (Vah
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identify the bearer’s geographica
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as to how to wash, dry and comb the
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code of conduct. As he said, all ha
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When a Sikh couple and good friends
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the woman. Emotionally these suhag
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ing a married woman and which she s
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their parents are requested to stan
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ide’s brother then escorts her to
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his bed to make him prepared for th
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When the relatives from Punjab arri
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The dead body is brought into the c
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did not require the attention of ot
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Sikh woman said: “We used to ask
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hand path of the Guru Granth Sahib
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On the thirteenth day or the sevent
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ation of a deceased person justifie
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solar Gregorian calendar, while mos
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in the Sikh history: the birth of G
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The Nanakshahi samat jantri which i
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particular deity or deities in the
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a main attraction on anniversary da
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the practice of simran and during t
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Children representing the panj pyar
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pants who represent different Sikh
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Nagar kirtan is a means for propaga
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Immediately after Arti, the granthi
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In the evening of the gurpurub the
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on North Indian festivals. 665 In t
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ulate the fire for an uneven number
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At Varanasi, like many other places
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customary Arti ceremony was perform
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about the humble Bhai Kanhaiya, off
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punishments for misdeeds they have
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The most common approach to allevia
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One verse which stood out remarkabl
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water from Sitala Mandir near river
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as they are believed to be unsatisf
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But Mata ji’s death was not defin
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was the shadow of a Muslim girl, a
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BABA VADBHAG SINGH When I first met
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The enemy is no longer a human iden
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where Vadbhag Singh continues his s
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connection with this event Kuku ji
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pected decline in a business is sus
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F I V E CONSTRUCTING MEANINGS CONT
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interpretation of activities define
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action. 714 These constructs may in
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CONTEXUALIZATION AND ENTEXTUALIZATI
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texualization can be achieved throu
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Another discourse somewhat relevant
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As Austin argues, performative utte
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nous “performativist” to the mo
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and religious ceremonies, discourse
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concern for the formal character of
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the human Gurus, Guru Granth Sahib
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Satnam Vahiguru in a repetitive man
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Examples of STATED REASONS FOR PERF
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shall arrange Akhand path “for th
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name of the deceased. Some said the
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etween the two references. The gurb
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Guru, which is always adaptable to
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variations with the eternal “cano
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engaging in religious action. The w
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ealization is presented in terms of
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divine writing (likhna). 802 The fo
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with the divine words through conti
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life... that I do not have to suffe
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SAMMANFATTNING PÅ SVENSKA (SUMMARY
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minoritet i en hinduisk pilgrimssta
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GURPURUBS IN THE NANAKSHAHI CALENDA
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POH (DECEMBER/JANUARY) Prakash diva
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Divali Katak People perform puja to
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GLOSSARY OF SELECTED FOREIGN TERMS
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Jap - meditation and repetition of
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Ragi - a professional singer of kir
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REFERENCES ABBREVIATIONS GGS Guru G
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Amrit Kirtan[Nectar Praises (Punjab
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Anand, G. S. 1970. ”Guru Tegh Bah
Page 535 and 536:
Briggs, Geo. W. 1997 (1920). The Ch
Page 537 and 538:
Fenech, Louis E. 2003. “Conversat
Page 539 and 540:
Hein, Norvin. 1972. The Miracle Pla
Page 541 and 542:
Kaushal, Molly (ed.). 2001. Chanted
Page 543 and 544:
― (ed.). 1990. India through Hind
Page 545 and 546:
Nijhawan, Michael. 2006a. “Ritual
Page 547 and 548:
Schildkrout, Enid. 2004. “Inscrib
Page 549 and 550:
Singh, Gurnek. 1998. Guru Granth Sa
Page 551 and 552:
Veidlinger, Daniel. 2006. “When a
Page 553 and 554:
LUND STUDIES IN HISTORY OF RELIGION
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