INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

particular ethnic background. The social composition of a large urban community
will remain a knotty problem unless one recourses to one or another generalization.
Aware of these complexities the devotees who today constitute the bulk of the
Sikh community in Varanasi can still be generalized into four main categories. In the
first group are a small number of Sikh families who claim a history in the city. These
families either assert they are descendents of the Brahmin pandits and the first disciples
of Guru Nanak, or say they became residents of Varanasi more than a hundred
and fifty years back because of trade, posts in governmental services, or other attractions
in a Hindu pilgrimage centre. The second and undoubtedly the largest grouping
are the Punjabi Sikhs who migrated from Western Punjab, Kashmir, and the North
Western Provinces during the years surrounding the partition in 1947. The majority
are Khatri traders and those who belong to some other Punjabi business community.
Due to their financial standing and social status these families have come to occupy a
position as patrons of the local community. They are in charge of the two gurdwaras
in the city and responsible for public representations of Sikhism to the outside society.
A third and often neglected group of the community is made up by low caste
Hindus who in more recent years have converted to the Sikhism on religious motives
and to escape caste discriminations. Most converts originate from rural areas in surrounding
districts and Bihar and have settled in the Varanasi for job opportunities.
Another influential group in the congregational life is the Sindhis, a community
which traces its origin to the state Sindh in the present Pakistan and arrived in Varanasi
after the partition. Sindhis have their own language, social system, culture, and
have distinguished themselves as successful merchants. In terms of religious affiliation
the Sindhis uphold an inclusive attitude: they are both Hindus and followers of
the Sikh Gurus, and simultaneously maintain the cult of their patron Saint Jhulelal.
To illustrate the social and cultural diversity within a local community and how
religious affiliations are negotiated and interpreted quite differently by the groups,
the Khatri Sikhs, Hindu converts, and Sindhis will be discussed separately in the
following. For Punjabi Sikhs, religion and identity will be intimately intertwined with
a Punjabi culture, language, social customs, and ties to the homeland of Punjab, while
the Sindhis take pride in the preservation of a Sindhi culture that marks out their
ethnic identity and differentiates them from others. The converts, on the other hand,
adopt the Sikh teaching and a Khalsa identity but will maintain customs of their origin.
Out in the society, however, other residents of the city will associate them with a
cultural and ethnical belonging to the Punjab because of the external Sikh symbols
they wear.
GENESIS AND DEMOGRAPHY OF A COMMUNITY
In compliance with stories in the Janam Sakhi literature, the Sikhs in Varanasi will
trace the birth of their congregation back to the sixteenth century when Guru Nanak
visited Varanasi and converted Hindu pandits, learned scholars to the Sikh teaching.
Nineteenth century Sikh sources claim that two followers of the Guru ‒ Hari Lal and
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008