48 Fun Facts About Sikhism

Guru Nanak's hymns describe the sack of Saidpur by the armies of which invader?

Babur's armies sacked Saidpur, and Nanak, who witnessed the violence, recorded it in four hymns known as the Babur Vani.

In which region of the Indian subcontinent did Sikhism originate?

Punjab was split between two countries in 1947, and most Sikhs living on its western side fled east amid communal violence.

Which Indian leader apologised in Parliament in 2005 for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots?

Manmohan Singh apologised days after an inquiry's report on the riots had led a minister, Jagdish Tytler, to resign.

The sixth Sikh guru's release from a Mughal prison is celebrated during which festival?

Diwali, for Sikhs, marks the day the sixth guru walked free, and tradition says 52 imprisoned princes left with him by holding on to his cloak.

Which famous diamond did the British take from the boy Maharaja Duleep Singh?

The Koh-i-Noor was surrendered to Queen Victoria under the 1849 treaty, and it has since been set in the crowns of British queens consort.

What Sikh phrase, opening the scripture, expresses the oneness of God as 'One Creator'?

Ik Onkar also opens the Japji Sahib, the hymn devout Sikhs recite first thing every morning.

What is the Sikh word for God?

Waheguru: Guru Gobind Singh introduced the salutation 'Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh', meaning the Khalsa belongs to God and victory belongs to God.

What does the word 'Sikh' mean?

Student or disciple: the tenth guru later named the scripture as the guru Sikhs learn from, ending the line of human gurus.

What is a langar?

A free vegetarian community meal open to all, langar serves only vegetarian food so that people of every faith, whatever their dietary rules, can eat it.

What does the word gurdwara, the name for a Sikh place of worship, mean?

Door to the guru: on walking in, Sikhs first bow to the Guru Granth Sahib, touching the floor with their foreheads as a sign of respect.

Which of the five Ks is uncut hair?

Kes: by leaving their hair uncut, Sikhs accept it as God's gift, keeping their bodies as God intended.

Which of the five Ks is a small wooden comb?

Kangha: Sikhs use the small wooden comb twice a day, and it reminds them that their lives should be tidy and disciplined.

What is a kirpan?

A blade worn as an article of faith, the kirpan stands for the defence of the weak and the struggle against injustice.

Which prime minister was assassinated by two Sikh bodyguards months after the army stormed the Golden Temple?

Indira Gandhi was shot on 31 October 1984, and her killing set off anti-Sikh riots in which thousands of Sikhs were killed.

On which harvest festival did Guru Gobind Singh found the Khalsa?

Vaisakhi 1699: Guru Gobind Singh asked for Sikhs willing to give their heads, led five into a tent, and brought them out alive as the first Khalsa.

What does the name Singh, given to Sikh men, mean?

Lion: at a Sikh naming ceremony the scripture is opened at random, the baby's name starts with the hymn's first letter, and a boy also gets Singh.

What does the name Kaur, given to Sikh women, mean?

Princess: in the traditional account, Guru Gobind Singh gave Sikh women the name Kaur partly to replace caste-revealing surnames.

Which script is used to write the Sikh scriptures?

Gurmukhi: Sikh tradition credits the second guru with reworking older letters into its simpler alphabet.

Which fifth guru compiled the first edition of the Sikh scripture, the Adi Granth, in 1604?

Arjan included hymns by Hindu and Muslim saints, and he installed the finished scripture in the Golden Temple, which he had built.

What does an attendant wave over the Guru Granth Sahib as a sign of royal respect?

A whisk, the chaur, is waved over it as over royalty, and each night the scripture is carried to a bedroom of its own.

Which Mughal emperor had the fifth Sikh guru tortured and killed in 1606?

Jahangir had the guru tortured, and Sikh tradition says he was then led into the river and never seen again.

Which sixth guru carried two swords representing spiritual and temporal power, the doctrine of Miri Piri?

Hargobind wore the two swords after his father's execution, turning the Sikhs into an armed community for the first time.

Which Sikh guru was beheaded in Delhi in 1675 on Aurangzeb's orders?

Tegh Bahadur's severed head was carried to Anandpur by a disciple, Bhai Jaita, in defiance of the Mughals, so that it could be cremated.

What is the name of the holy pool that surrounds the Golden Temple's sanctum?

Sarovar: the fourth guru, Ram Das, began digging the pool, and the fifth guru built the shrine in its middle.

Which Sikh ruler overlaid the Golden Temple's sanctum with gold leaf in 1830, giving it its popular name?

Maharaja Ranjit Singh vowed to rebuild the temple in marble and gold after invading Afghan armies had desecrated it.

What do the Golden Temple's four entrances symbolise?

Equality: the four entrances signal that people of all four traditional castes, and of every faith, are equally welcome.

What was the name of the 1984 Indian Army assault on militants inside the Golden Temple complex?

Operation Blue Star wrecked the Akal Takht, and Sikhs later pulled down the government's repairs and rebuilt it themselves.

What is the Akal Takht?

The supreme seat of temporal authority in Sikhism, the Akal Takht was built by the sixth guru facing the Golden Temple's shrine, to balance worldly power with spiritual.

What is the Nishan Sahib?

The Sikh flag flown at gurdwaras, the Nishan Sahib, flies from a tall pole so travellers can spot a gurdwara from a distance.

Which vices does Sikhism call the five thieves?

Ego, anger, greed, attachment and lust are vices that, Sikhs believe, make people self-centred and separate them from God.

What is the Sikh wedding ceremony called?

Anand Karaj: the couple walk slowly around the Guru Granth Sahib four times, once for each of the four laavan hymns.

Which Sikh festival of martial arts and mock battles was started by Guru Gobind Singh?

Hola Mohalla falls the day after Holi, because Guru Gobind Singh built on that festival by adding a martial element.

Which disciple did Guru Nanak choose as his successor over his own sons?

Lahina, later called Angad, served Nanak devotedly for years, and Nanak renamed him Angad, meaning a part of himself.

The city founded by Guru Ram Das as Ramdaspur grew into which holy city?

Amritsar grew into a city under the next guru too, built with donations and the voluntary labour of Sikhs.

Into which religion was Guru Nanak's childhood friend and lifelong musical companion Mardana born?

Muslim: Mardana came from a Muslim family of musicians and went on to become one of Nanak's first disciples.

In which modern country is Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak?

Pakistan: in 1921 the priest who controlled Nanak's birthplace shrine had his men fire on Sikh reformers, and an agitation followed until control of the shrine was restored to Sikhs.

Which country had the world's largest share of Sikhs in its population, about 2.1%, in 2021?

Canada: in 1914 it refused to let the Komagata Maru, carrying mostly Sikh migrants, land its passengers, and its government has since apologised.

What was the capital of the Sikh Empire?

Lahore: the empire's capital came under British rule when the empire was annexed in 1849, after the Second Anglo-Sikh War.

The last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, Duleep Singh, controversially converted to which religion in 1853?

Christianity: his conversion, amid a surge of missionary activity, helped spur the Singh Sabha movement to revive Sikh practice.

What is the Dasam Granth?

A secondary scripture attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, the Dasam Granth is thought by some scholars to be the work of poets in his entourage or later.

What does the Sikh ideal of the sant-sipahi describe?

A saint-soldier pairs a saint's wisdom with a warrior's courage, and the tenth guru made that ideal the basis of the Khalsa.

Which practice, the repetition and remembrance of God, is central to Sikh devotion?

Naam Japo or Simran: Guru Nanak taught it alongside honest work and sharing, and the three became the pillars of Sikh life.

Which Sikh sect, founded by Guru Nanak's son Sri Chand, managed many Sikh shrines in the 18th century?

The Udasis ran many Sikh shrines until the Akali reform movement of the 1920s expelled their mahants.

What do Sikhs call the singing of hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib?

Kirtan: Sikh tradition credits the gurus with devising instruments to accompany it, such as the taus, a bowed string instrument.

What is the Sikh term for egotism?

Haumai: selfless service, seva, is one way Sikhs believe a person gets rid of it.

Who led the Khalsa after the tenth guru's death, ending the Zamindari system where he ruled?

Banda Bahadur was captured by the Mughals and put to death in 1716.

What is the Golden Temple's formal name?

Harmandir Sahib was built lower than the land around it, so that visitors enter it in humility.

Which 1919 massacre of unarmed civilians took place near the Golden Temple?

Jallianwala Bagh: after British troops fired on the trapped crowd, Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood in protest.