INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

At Varanasi, like many other places, the festivities of Divali evoke oral renderings
of the epilog in the popular Ramayana story. After Ram had defeated the demon
king of Sri Lanka, Ravana, he and his wife Sita triumphantly returned to the capital of
Ayodhya after fourteen years in exile. The final chapter of the story describes the
joyous atmosphere when Ram entered the city: people were burning lights in golden
dishes and waved them over his head. The streets were sprinkled with perfume and
kettledrums created a joyous sound. 676 Both Hindu and Sikh interlocutors told me
that a similar atmosphere is symbolically created during Divali. By shooting crackers
people ward off the malignant forces and darkness and celebrate the triumph of good
with rows of light. “It is a festival happiness, not an event of sadness,” a Sikh woman
said.
Modern writers on Sikhism frequently assert that Divali was originally a Hindu
festival which the Sikhs historically transformed and attributed new significations. 677
In the sixteenth century Guru Amardas decided to gather his disciples during Divali
(and Vaisakhi) for religious worship and guidance of a growing community. With his
successor Guru Ram Das the city of Amritsar became the seat of the Guru and hence
a meeting place for the Sikhs. The sanctioned story which connects the city to the
celebration of Divali takes place during the sixth Guru Hargobind’s leadership. The
Guru was arrested and put in prison at Gwalior Fort under the order of the Mogul
Emperor Jahangir. According to a popular version, Guru Hargobind was held captive
for the charge of revolt, but Jahangir decided to set the Guru free when he found no
grounds for the allegation. The Guru insisted that fifty-two Hindu princes of Punjab,
imprisoned for the same reason, would be released along with him. The Moghul
emperor agreed to the request, on the condition that only those who could catch hold
of the Guru’s cloak as he was stepping out of the fort would be released. Guru Hargobind
therefore stitched a loose cloak with fifty-two strips for each of the princes to
hold and thereby set all of them free. When the Guru returned to Amritsar the Sikhs
were celebrating his arrival and heroic deed by illuminating the city. Henceforth the
Sikhs converged at Amritsar to celebrate Divali. 678 In these days Harimandir Sahib is
decorated with electric lights and lamps for three days in connection with the fesitval.
Disregard the origin of the three stories, they all seem to share fundamental
symbolic messages about the dispelling of dark powers and the restoration of social
order and good times. While Ram defeated Ravan, who kept his wife Sita captured at
Lanka, Hargobind triumphed over the Mogul ruler and set fifty-two princes free. On
their return to their respective seats of power people were celebrating their victory.
676
Prasad 1994: 577‒ 578.
677
See e.g. Walia 2002, Cole & Sambhi 1998. According to Oberoi (1995) Divali was one of the
festivals which the Singh Sabha in the nineteenth century remolded to suit a modern Sikh identity.
Commemoration of Guru Hargobind’s release from Gwalior Fort, rather than worshipping
a Hindu goddess, was considered appropriate to a Sikh celebration of Divali.
678
Another story alluded in connection with Divali tells about Bhai Mani Singh’s martyrdom in
1738. While attending a congregation at Amritsar during Divali he was captured by the Moghuls
and put to death.
419
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008