nishaan@magazine

Speech by HRH the Prince of Wales I must say that I am enormously grateful to Harbinder Singh, for not only his marvelous works – I always enjoy listening to him because I learn a great deal from him about the great history of the Sikhs – but I am particularly grateful to him for having helped put together such a marvelous gathering of the Sikh community here today. Harbinder…

It might be the undisputed food capital of North India today, but once upon a time, Amritsar was a major textile trading centre too, as Jasvinder Kaur writes: Around 200 years ago, as Maharaja Ranjit Singh, aided by his legendary French generals, was consolidating his kingdom, the latter were introducing rich northern Indian textiles to Europe. At the heart of this trade was Amritsar, the undisputed food capital of North…

In his prolific writings, Dr IJ Singh has drawn attention to a very vital issue of Sikhism and re-structuring. The training, employment and wages of Granthis have been neglected for far too long. Any type of training, more so of Granthis or Katha Vachaks, requires a professional approach, to ensure consistency of quality. This quality is achieved by building a body of knowledge, careful training of people in that knowledge…

Established by Guru Ramdas, Amritsar owes its name to the sacred tank (amrit sar or the pool of nectar) at the centre of which was laid the foundation of the holiest of Sikh religious shrines by Miyan Mir, a Qadiri Sufi mystic of Lahore, in 1588. Sikh tradition acknowledges the role of Sufi mysticism in its tradition through the inclusion of Baba Farid’s mystical poetry (Fariduddin Ganj-i-Shakar, a Chishti Sufi…

S Harbhajan Singh Sapra, now in his 81st year, has written this piece for the next generation of youth, his desire being to present the vitality of Sikhism to those in modern times educational institutions, in India and around the world. Sikhism is the youngest and the most visible amongst the world’s religions, but is not a passive faith. It advocates active participation of mankind in the process of transformation…

Amritsar was born in Lahore. It was born inside the walled city, in a small house, in its narrow winding streets. It was the month of Assu, a month that corresponds with the months of September and October in the Gregorian calendar. It was a month when the monsoon rains, having unleashed their fury had finally taken mercy and receded. The demons of the summer had been defeated, while the…

Opening of the Kartarpur Corridor – the Kartarpur Langha –  has sent a frisson of excitement through Punjab with the Kartarpur Corridor agreement between India and Pakistan allowing visa-free access to Indians to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib situated 4 kilometres inside Pakistan. Punjabis had been asking for access to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur Sahib since 1947.  Kartarpur Sahib is where Guru Nanak settled for the last 18 years of…

The first time I visited Amritsar, I was bewildered, smitten and deeply saddened. This was in 2008, on a trip with my college friends from Kinnaird. We reached Amritsar from Delhi, after having visited other major towns of north India. My paternal grandfather, who raised me, was from the eastern Punjab district of Gurdaspur, Tehsil Batala. Since I was a little girl, he had pointed to the wall next to…

On 14 November 2022, a 41 year old Sikh Amar Singh was honoured with the New South Wales Australian of the Year award for supporting the community impacted by floods, bushfires, drought and the Covid-19 pandemic. Amar Singh is the founder and President of  ‘Turbans 4 Australia’ — a charity organisation that assists people facing financial insecurity, hardship, homelessness and those impacted by natural disasters. Amar Singh and his team…