Guru Nanak Jayanti : Commemorating Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism

Guru Nanak Jayanti - celebrating the birth of Guru Nanak Dev

Guru Nanak Jayanti - extensively celebrated as Gurpurab across India and the world - is one of the several auspicious religious festivals in Sikhism observed to commemorate and remember the birth and philosophy of Guru Nanak, first Sikh Guru and founder of Sikhism. Sikhs and ardent followers of Guru Nanak remember him by celebrating Guru Nanak Jayanti with great enthusiasm that usually falls on Kartik Poornima. Admirers will observe Guru Nanak Jayanti 2011 on the month of November, which is also declared as a gazetted holiday in India.

Guru Nanak (1469AD - 1539AD) was born in a village named Rai Bhoi di Talwandi, presently popular as Nankana Sahib, near Lahore, Pakistan. Biographical sources depict that from childhood he showed deep interest in matters pertaining to divinity and spirituality. Towards his later age, he completely engrossed himself in preaching the importance and power of spirituality in one's life that ultimately gave birth to Sikhism. Guru Nanak Jayanti is also about reliving his preaching and teachings that are quoted in the sacred Sikh scripture Guru Grant Sahib, the holy book in which hymns of Sikh Gurus are quoted.

Gurpurab actually refers to the anniversary festivities that revolve around the lives of 10 Sikh Gurus to mark the significant contributions towards Sikhism. Because of such reasons, celebration of Guru Nanak Jayanti is much similar to other Gurpurabs with the exception of the hymns.

Festivity of Guru Nanak Birthday gear up a couple of days ahead of the specified date by decorating Gurdwaras in attractive ways and organising Akhand Path (reading of the Guru Granth Sahib incessantly for 48 hours). A day earlier of Guru Nanak Jayanti, devotees carry out processions holding Nishan Sahib (the Sikh flag) and singing hymns. The Palki (boxlike litter with poles) for Guru Granth Sahib, Panj Pyaras (five beloved ones) and 'Gatka' team displaying their sword skills and martial arts are some of the integral and major attraction of the event.

On the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, devotees sing hymns in the early morning from Sikh scriptures including Asa-di-Var followed by poems and sermons to relive the significant accounts and activities from Guru's life symbolically in his praise. Gurdwaras on the grand celebration of Guru Nanak Jayanti serve Langar or a community meal to all for free.

Apart from the traditional celebration ideas, people to share the essence and joy of this festival send inspirational and lovely Guru Nanak Jayanti SMS or messages to their dear ones. This year, Sikh community and followers of Guru Nanak will observe Guru Nanak Jayanti on November 10.

with thanks : Times of India : link above.

Children in charge of Holland Park Sikh temple

A Sikh temple in London is handing control over to children for one day a month. Catrin Nye reports.

A Sikh Gurdwara in west London has put children at the heart of its running for one day a month.

The idea came from parents who wanted their children to have a bigger role in their place of worship.

The Gurdwara Khalsa Jatha in Holland Park was established in 1908 making it the oldest Sikh place of worship in the UK.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

We learn in a different way now and we don't sit down and do as we're told any more”

Navleen KaurEvent organiser

Organisers of the event told BBC Asian Network they wanted their children to sustain the temple that their elders had worked so hard to create.

with thanks : BBC News : link above for detailed story.

Sikhs Keep the Cheese Coming in Italian Heartland !!

PESSINA CREMONESE,ITALY — Alongside common local last names like Ferrari and Galli,the telephone directories for the province of Cremona have been registering an increasingly present surname: Singh.

For the past 20 years, Indian immigrants many of whom are Sikhs from Punjab have been settling in Italy’s agricultural heartland to work primarily on farms,often as bergamini,as dairy workers are known in the native dialect.

It has been said that if the Indian workers went on strike, production of Grana Padano, the hard,grainy,spaghetti-topper that this tract of the Po Valley is known for;would shut down. Simone Solfanelli,the president of the Cremona chapter of Coldiretti,Italy’s largest Agricultural Organization said “Well,I don’t know if production would stop, but it would certainly create many difficulties,”.I can tell you that Sikhs are indispensable for farming and for the milk produced in the province — at one million tons per year, about a tenth of all milk produced in Italy".

“Sikhs saved an economy that would have gone to the dogs because young people didn’t want to work with cows,” Mayor Dalido Malaggi of Pessina Cremonese said. He explained "Though the dairy industry is mostly mechanized today, human labor is still necessary 365 days a year.The work is split in two four-hour shifts per day, about 12 hours apart.Young Italians don’t want to work those kinds of hours.They’d prefer to work in factories and want to have evenings and weekends free".Thus,with no substitutes in sight,it was a fortunate match, because many of the Sikh immigrants already knew what it took to keep a farm running.

There are no official statistics of how many Sikhs work in dairy barns here,but Mr. Solfanelli said that out of the 3,000 agricultural laborers in the province, about a one third are Indians

With thanks:The New York Times,Europe.

Dilbag Singh and his wife Sukhwinder Kaur who have been living and working as a bergamino in Cremona,Italy for the last 16 years say that "This is dairy land,and many of us have cows in Punjab..so we are used to the work that we do here.”

Mr.Dilbag Singh during his work shift in the milking room of farm in Cremona, Italy.











Dr.Gurdeep Kaur
University of Milan
ITALY

Associate Professor
SGND Khalsa Collage,
University of Delhi
INDIA

Europe's Biggest Gurdwara in Cremona ,Italy !

"Gurdwara Shri Guru Kalgidhar Sahib"

Gurduwara Sri Guru Kalgidhar Sahib is a largest Sikh temple in Continental Europe.It was inaugurated on Aug. 2111.It has been built in an industrial area that includes a factory of vacuum pump compressors and a cold-cut production plant.Its designer;Giorgio Mantovani said that the temple was inspired by Sikh models in India & it is both a monument and a center for the community.

It took years to construct this Gurdwra.Municipal permits were given and withdrawn in a nearby town when the temple became a politically thorny issue, so another site was found. A decade’s worth of bureaucratic hurdles also had to be overcome, money had to be raised by the Sikh community,and loans found to make up the rest of the price tag of €2 million, or nearly $3 million.
















Dr.Gurdeep Kaur
University of Milan
ITALY

Associate Professor
SGND Khalsa College
University of Delhi
INDIA

Sikh priest given £62k settlement

Gurpal Singh Virdi, 66, of Clover Street in Chatham, says he was forbidden from leaving the Siri Guru Nanak Gurdwara Temple in Byron Road, Gillingham and often worked 17-hour days during his 15 years as a Granthi (Sikh priest).

The father of three, a decorated soldier, claimed he was unfairly dismissed after he refused to take a pay cut in August 2008.

Mr Virdi's case was due to be heard at Ashford Employment Tribunal on October 10, but the temple's trustees agreed to pay him £62,000 to settle, making no admission of liability.

Temple bosses have strongly denied all the claims, saying they do not treat priests as "slaves", and that Mr Virdi received free accommodation, food, gas and electricity on top of his salary.

Mr Virdi told the News: "At no time was I allowed to leave the temple without permission. If I wanted to visit anyone, I wasn't allowed without the temple committee's permission.

He added: "I've begged and borrowed from everyone, all my friends, to pay for the solicitors' fees."

When Mr Virdi first joined the temple, he was paid £50 a week.

He and his wife Gurpax, 61, lived rent-free in a flat above the temple, and were given food.

Mr Virdi claimed his bosses deducted National Insurance contributions from his pay, despite it being below the required threshold, leaving him with little money to buy extra food, clothes and essentials.

The father of three, originally from Punjab, alleges that on his return from holiday in August, 2008, he was ordered by temple bosses to sign a new contract that would drop his pay from £405 to £350 per month, and put him on a three-month probation. He refused and was later dismissed.

In a previous case in 2009, Mr Virdi was paid more than £4,000 by the temple after claiming backdated salary.

Committee chairman Julhar Singh Chohan said: "We respect priests, we don't use them as slaves."

He said at least two Granthis had been employed during Mr Virdi's tenure, and that they shared the hours between them.

with thanks : thisiskent : link above for detailed news.

BJP, Akali Dal seek punishment for 1984 riots accused

New Delhi: A joint delegation of BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal leaders on Thursday called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sought punishment of the Congress men accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu and Delhi BJP President Vijender Gupta led the delegation of MPs and office-bearers of the two parties to the Prime Minister on the 27th anniversary of the anti-Sikh riots and submitted a memorandum.

BJP and SAD are partners in government in poll-bound Punjab.

"More than 4,000 Sikhs were massacred in Delhi alone in the Congress sponsored massacre in 1984. Besides this, more than 7 thousand Sikhs were killed in other parts of India. The accused are still at large. Where is justice in this case?"

asked Naidu, after submitting the memorandum.

Naidu alleged that the Congress government in complicity with the Delhi Police were trying to save the leaders involved in the riots.

"The Delhi Police had prepared a chargesheet against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in April, 1992, but it has not been filed in the Court till date. It is evident the Centre is trying to save the accused," said Naidu.

with thanks : IBNLive : link above for detailed news.

Sikh body plans yatra to Haridwar on Nov 7

CHANDIGARH: In this season of yatras, a religious yatra is now on the anvil where the Sikh community would start a journey from Amritsar to Haridwar with the aim of reclaiming the land of a 450-year-old gurdwara at Har Ki Pauri, which was destroyed during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Announcing this here at a press conference, All India Sikh Conference (Babbar) leaderGurcharan Singh Babbar said the yatra would begin on November 7 and reach the site of Gurdwara Gyan Godri in Haridwar on November 10 where amid hymn singing, the congregation would take control of the gurdwara land, which is now under encroachment, to rebuild it.

with thanks : times of India : link above for detailed news.

Gill requests PM to honour Fauja Singh with Padma Award

NEW DELHI: Former sports minister MS Gillhas written a letter to Prime MinisterManmohan Singh, requesting him to honour iconic centenarian marathon runner Fauja Singh with a Padma Award. 

The senior congress leader heaped praise on Fauja Singh, saying he "has set the world imagination on fire, with his human endeavour, and never say die spirit." 

"I am writing this to once again request you (PM) and the committee, to honour Fauja Singh with a Padma Award. In doing so, frankly, we will be honouring ourselves," Gill wrote in his letter. 

The London-based 100-year-old Sikh, Fauja completed a 42km marathon in Toronto,Canada earlier this month, finishing the distance in eight hours, 25 minutes and 16 seconds. He also run in a Marathon in Frankfurt. 

with thanks : Times of India : link above for detailed news.

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PM cancels Punjab trip, SGPC and Akalis upset

Chandigarh: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's much awaited visit to Punjab to inaugurate the ambitious Khalsa Heritage Complex (KHC) at Anandpur Sahib has been cancelled, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) said Thursday.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had said the KHC, touted as a landmark monument of Sikhism, would be inaugurated by the Prime Minister between Nov 15 and 25.

Manmohan Singh, a Sikh himself, had agreed "in principle" to a request by the Chief Minister to inaugurate the KHC at Anandpur Sahib, 80 km from here, when the latter called on him in New Delhi in October.

The SGPC, considered the mini parliament of Sikh religion, and the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal have blamed petty politics of Punjab Congress leaders for the cancellation.

"The visit of the Prime Minister has been cancelled. The Sikh community had bestowed an honour on the prime minister, who is himself a Sikh, to inaugurate this great monument. But his visit has been sacrificed by petty politics," SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said in Patiala Thursday.

"The Prime Minister should not be so weak that he is influenced by others so easily," said Makkar, sounding bitter.

Punjab Congress president and former chief minister Amarinder Singh had last month written a letter to the prime minister to not come for the KHC project inauguration as it had already been 'inaugurated' in 2006.

Punjab Congress leaders were worried that the prime minister coming for an event for the Badal government and the SGPC so close to assembly elections could be detrimental to Congress interests.

Assembly Elections in the state are likely to be held February-March next year and parties in the state are already in election mode.

"It is unfortunate that he (PM) has said that I am not coming. It was an honour for him, being a Sikh, to inaugurate this prestigious project. The Punjab Congress and Amarinder Singh are responsible for this cancellation (of the visit)," Chief Minister Badal said.

with thanks : ZEENEWS : link above for detailed news.

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B S Vohra in the service to the society

B S Vohra in the service to the society