INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

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about six hours later. As one granthi said, these stretches of the route were favoured when the community began to perform Nagar kirtan as a large number of the Sikhs and Sindhis live and work in these areas. The reversible character of the routes emphasizes the importance of the gurdwaras by starting and ending at the same place. Temporarily the procession will manipulate public places already existing in the local geography to engender a meaningful space. Before the festival day, local Sikhs will decorate and mark out the road with bamboo gates wrapped in saffroncolored clothes and banderols carrying religious messages, such as “The greatness of Guru Nanak is manifested through all ages”, or “Congratulations on the anniversary of Guru Nanak”. Individual Sikh families and businessmen with houses and shops located along the stretch illuminate their buildings with electric lights to celebrate the arrival of the Guru-scripture and the congregation of Sikhs to their neighborhood. At selected points along the route they prepare “seva-stations” where devotees generously distribute sweets, snacks and tea to participants and spectators. Before the carriage arrives on the day of procession, Sikhs beating kettle drums and rows of marchers bearing banners announce the occasion. They are followed by groups of devotees who sweep and wash the streets with water and strew petals on the road. For observing spectators these acts clearly signal that a person of exalted status is approaching. An analysis of the morphology of Nagar kirtan would indicate that there are several constituent parts that are ever-recurrent and important in the procession. Like other events when Guru Granth Sahib is taken out on tour, the performance of Ardas frames the beginning and the end of Nagar kirtan and thereby modifies the usual meaning of time and space by having the event sanctified by the Guru. Similar to the daily liturgies the scripture is installed on a float in an outdoor installation ceremony, and restored to the bedroom at the closing stage at night when the scripture leaves the parade and is put to rest. The arrival and departure of Guru Granth Sahib are two key events that mark out points of gathering and dispersion of participants and provide the external structure of Nagar kirtan. The procession is generally a wellstructured arrangement at the beginning of the march, in consideration of school children and younger participants, but will loosen up and change form along the way with new elements added or others removed. Devotees and spectators may join in and depart from the procession more or less as they like. Only a senior group of panj pyare and adult men and women performing devotional songs in folk tunes may escort the scripture from the beginning to the very end. Several scholars have observed that the order of people parading and other spatial dynamics within processions may suggest social and ideological hierarchies. 660 Typical of a standard performance in Varanasi is to deliberately position all participants in relation to the carriage of Guru Granth Sahib. The main float with the text will stand in the centre of attention, usually in the back section of the procession, and is spatially framed by the panj pyare and the groups of adult devotees. Young partici- 660 Marin 1987, Trainor 1997. 406 Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008
pants who represent different Sikh organizations and exhibit martial arts and worship modes, such as seva and kirtan, will go in the front under guardianship of teachers and senior members (See Figure 25). The concentric composition of these key elements of a procession – the text being surrounded by a social layer of the young <strong>THE</strong> INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF NAGAR KIRTAN (as exemplified by a performance in 2000) 1. Mounted on an elephant a Nihang Sikh beats a kettle-drum 2. Panj pyare ride white horses, holding Sikh standards and swords 3. Brass Band performs music 4. A garlanded portrait of Nanak, Tegh Bahadur and Gobind Singh is transported on a rickshaw 5. A garlanded painting of Nanak is transported on a rickshaw 6. Brass Band performs popular bhangra music. Musicians are dressed up in traditional Punjabi folk dress 7. A garlanded painting of Nanak is transported on a rickshaw 8. School children from Guru Nanak Khalsa School in Gurubagh 9. School children from Guru Nanak English School in Shivpur 10. Girls of Bibi Nanki Kirtan Jatha at Guru Nanak Khalsa School in Gurubagh carry placards and perform devotional music 11. Female members of the Red Cross at Guru Nanak Khalsa School 12. School children from Guru Nanak Khalsa School carry flags and batons 13. Boys and girls of the Karate club at Guru Nanak Khalsa School demonstrate karate chops 14. Tractor with water reservoir 15. Ten to fifteen Sikh and Hindu devotees carry watering- cans and sweep the road 16. A group of male adults perform devotional music 17. A junior group of panj pyare 18. A junior group of panj pyare 19. A senior group of panj pyare 20. The main float conveying Guru Granth Sahib. One attendant distributes sanctified food (prashad) along the way 21. A group of female adults perform devotional music Figure 25. and adults who demonstrate devotional acts – serves to make the superior Guru present in a here and now context and underscores that what should be the object of veneration is not just the scriptural corpus, but the interior teaching and words. Devotees virtually take out the words of Guru Granth Sahib to aesthetically mediate the Gurus’ teaching in music and in acts of charity that exemplify the teaching extended to implementation in social life. Within the temporal and spatial dimensions of Nagar kirtan, social rules and differentiations in everyday life should be set aside to promote an ideal mode of rela- 407 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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more inclined towards ritual worshi
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propagate the Sikh religion. For Ba
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The Khalsa ceremony itself is pregn
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sify their religion as a synthesis
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vented Jhulelal as the prime God of
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HISTORY OF THE GURDWARA COMMITTEE A
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venerated family members, who natur
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the city testify that Sabharwal was
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near the airport in the outskirts o
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thorities consequently shut up the
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campus. This changed drastically wi
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Another popular non-profit organiza
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micro-discursive accomplishment tha
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identity to maintain a separate tra
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The Valaitvali Janam-sakhi carries
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events are plotted according to a m
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Gurus. Other Nirmala establishments
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of the story. This is accomplished
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Ram pursued this knowledge from the
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The three pandits are also attribut
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transformation of those in the soci
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assistance. It held a small room ar
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commemoration day of Guru Tegh Baha
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nectar-water. 233 Subsequently, all
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often epitomize key persons and mom
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Guru Gobind Singh meditates in the
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living moment during which examples
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T W O INSIDE THE GURU’S GATE CON
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don’t have a guru there will be d
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speaking of interaction contexts th
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Nanak perceived himself as a messen
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K: So were the Sikh Gurus of divine
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irth in the form of Guru Nanak Dev
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During his life time he waved the c
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“Nanak says” within individual
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answers are indicative of the exten
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procession to Amritsar. To honor th
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IMPLICATIONS OF SCRIPTURAL SUCCESSI
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shown that cosmologies and systems
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With the shift of authority, the sa
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divine messages and enjoy the same
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Local Sikhs will say that the Guru
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PERSONIFYING A TEXT For students of
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oth persons and inanimate “things
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they also construct and maintain so
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ciprocity, either for purely devoti
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keeping langar can be traced back t
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A JURIDICAL PERSON Perhaps the most
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Guru. In a practice-oriented approa
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large number of sites and buildings
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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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Page 383 and 384: code of conduct. As he said, all ha
Page 385 and 386: When a Sikh couple and good friends
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Page 389 and 390: ing a married woman and which she s
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Page 397 and 398: When the relatives from Punjab arri
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Page 401 and 402: did not require the attention of ot
Page 403 and 404: Sikh woman said: “We used to ask
Page 405 and 406: hand path of the Guru Granth Sahib
Page 407 and 408: On the thirteenth day or the sevent
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Page 415 and 416: The Nanakshahi samat jantri which i
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Page 421 and 422: the practice of simran and during t
Page 423: Children representing the panj pyar
Page 427 and 428: Nagar kirtan is a means for propaga
Page 429 and 430: Immediately after Arti, the granthi
Page 431 and 432: In the evening of the gurpurub the
Page 433 and 434: on North Indian festivals. 665 In t
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Page 437 and 438: At Varanasi, like many other places
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Page 443 and 444: punishments for misdeeds they have
Page 445 and 446: The most common approach to allevia
Page 447 and 448: One verse which stood out remarkabl
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Page 451 and 452: as they are believed to be unsatisf
Page 453 and 454: But Mata ji’s death was not defin
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Page 457 and 458: BABA VADBHAG SINGH When I first met
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Page 461 and 462: where Vadbhag Singh continues his s
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Page 467 and 468: F I V E CONSTRUCTING MEANINGS CONT
Page 469 and 470: interpretation of activities define
Page 471 and 472: action. 714 These constructs may in
Page 473 and 474: 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
Page 533 and 534:
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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