Beliefs and practice

Ik Oankar, written ੴ, is the first sign in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and declares that God is one. It opens the Mool Mantar, the short statement of belief that stands at the head of the scripture.

Naam simran means keeping God's Name in constant remembrance. It is the central spiritual discipline in Sikhism, practised through repeating the Name, singing hymns and quiet contemplation.

Three principles are often taken to sum up the Sikh way of life: remember God (naam japna), earn an honest living (kirat karni) and share what you have (vand chhakna).

Seva is selfless service, offered without thought of reward. Because Sikhs believe God is present in all people, service to others is treated as a form of worship.

Hukam is the divine order that governs all things. Nadar is God's grace. Sikh teaching holds that understanding hukam ends self-centred pride, and that this understanding finally comes as a gift.

The Gurus taught that all people share one divine light, and rejected caste as a measure of worth. Sikh institutions were built to put this into practice, although the sources show that caste has not disappeared among Sikhs.

Miri means worldly authority and piri means spiritual authority. The pairing expresses the Sikh belief that faith and public life belong together, and it is associated above all with Sri Guru Hargobind Ji.

Sikhs recognise ten Gurus in human form. After Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, Guru Ji's authority rests in the scripture, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, and in the community, the Khalsa Panth.

Amrit is the Sikh ceremony of initiation, established in its present form by Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji at Vaisakhi 1699. Those who receive it join the Khalsa and undertake to keep the five Ks.

The Sikh Rehat Maryada is the code of conduct issued by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. It grew out of older manuals and a long consultation in the twentieth century.

Nitnem is the set of daily prayers a Sikh is asked to recite each morning, evening and night, alone or with others. The Sikh Rehat Maryada lists five compositions, and each session closes with Ardas.

Ardas is the standing prayer of supplication said at the close of Sikh services and before any undertaking. It is not part of the scripture. It grew over time, and its words carry a record of Sikh history.

Kirtan is the singing of hymns from the scripture. It is a central form of Sikh worship. The hymns are arranged by raag, or musical measure, and the words always take priority over the music.

Anand Karaj, the joyful ceremony, is the Sikh wedding. The couple walk four times around Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji as the four verses of the Lavan are sung. The Anand Marriage Act of 1909 gave the rite legal standing.

Sikh rites at birth and death are simple, centred on Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, hymns and Ardas. The Sikh Rehat Maryada rejects ideas of pollution and many older rituals.

Daswandh means a tenth part. It is the Sikh custom of giving a tenth of one's earnings to shared purposes, as a form of service.

A gurdwara is any place where Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is installed and Sikhs meet. It is open to all, and combines worship with a free kitchen and community life.

Langar is the free community kitchen run at gurdwaras. Anyone may eat, and all sit together in rows, without distinction of caste, faith or status. It is prepared by volunteers from donated food.

Sangat is the gathering of Sikhs for worship. Pangat is the practice of sitting together in rows to eat. The pair expresses a central aim of Sikh life: to pray and to eat as equals.

The Nishan Sahib is the tall Sikh flag that marks a gurdwara. It is a triangular pennant, usually saffron or blue, on a mast topped by a khanda.

Sarbat Khalsa means the whole Khalsa. It refers to the entire Sikh people, and to the assemblies held at the Akal Takht in the eighteenth century that took decisions on their behalf.

A gurmata is a resolution taken by Sikhs gathered before Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. It is treated as carrying Guru Ji's authority and as binding on those it concerns.

The Takhts are the five highest seats of Sikh religious authority. The Sikh Rehat Maryada lists them, and the Akal Takht at Amritsar holds a special place among them.

Several orders and movements have grown within or alongside the Sikh community, with their own customs and lines of teachers. This page describes six, as the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism reports them.

Gurmukhi is the script of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and of modern Punjabi in India. Its name is usually taken to mean from the mouth of Guru Ji. Tradition credits Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji with shaping it.

Vaisakhi, which opens the solar month of Vaisakh, began as a Punjabi harvest festival. For Sikhs it marks the creation of the Khalsa at Anandpur in 1699. It now usually falls on 13 or 14 April.

Hola Mohalla is a Sikh festival of martial display held at Anandpur Sahib at the start of the lunar month of Chet, usually in March. It follows the Hindu festival of Holi.

Bandi Chhor Divas, observed on the same day as Diwali, recalls the return of Sri Guru Hargobind Ji to Amritsar after release from detention in Gwalior Fort. Bandi chhor means one who frees prisoners.

A Gurpurab is a holy day marking an event in the lives of the Gurus, such as a birth, a martyrdom or the installation of the scripture. They are marked with readings, kirtan, processions and langar.

Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is the Sikh scripture and the living Guru of the Sikhs. Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji compiled it in 1604. Its standard form runs to 1,430 angs, arranged mainly by raag.

Beyond Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, Sikhs recognise other writings. These are the Dasam Granth, attributed to Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, and the works of Bhai Gurdas and Bhai Nand Lal. Their status is different from Guru Ji's, and parts of the Dasam Granth are disputed.