guru

Guru Gobind Singh's birthplace in Patna, Bihar.

Guru Gobind Singh

Guru Gobind Singh Guru Gobind Singh (22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708), born Gobind Das or Gobind Rai was the tenth Sikh Guru, a spiritual master, warrior, poet, and philosopher. When his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was executed by Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Singh was formally installed as the leader of the Sikhs at the age of nine, becoming the tenth and...

Preserved as MS Panj D4 at the British Library, this is one folio from a Gutka published in 1830 CE and acquired by Jind Kaur, also known as Maharani Jindan (1817–1863) – wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Sikh Empire. The Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib is a thick text of some 1430 pages. It is placed in the sanctum of a Sikh temple. For private collections, the Sikh tradition has been to acquire a Gutka (plural: Gutke). A Gutka is a short anthology of a few principal hymns.A popular version is a Panj-granthi gutka, or one that has five major hymns. The early Gutke were elaborately illustrated. The manuscript Panj D4 contains three hymns from the Gurū Granth Sāhib: Sidh Gosti of Guru Nanak, Bavan Akhari and Sukhmani of Guru Arjan. Each hymn starts with the left side depicting a colored illustration, while the text is on the right in Gurmukhi script with white letters and embellishments on a black background. This illustration depicts Guru Nanak as a young man in dialogue with the Siddhas (Hindu ascetics). This is a photograph of the manuscript created and published in 1830 CE. The 2D-Art licensing guidelines of wikimedia commons therefore apply. Any rights I have as a photographer, I herewith donate to wikimedia under its CC4.0 terms. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1925. This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.

Waheguru

Waheguru Waheguru or Vahiguru also spelt and pronounced Vahguru, is the distinctive name of the Supreme Being in the Sikh dispensation, like YHWH in Judaism and Allah in Islam. In Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, the term does not figure in the compositions of the Gurus, though it occurs therein, both as Vahiguru and...

Satguru Bodhinatha gives samaya diksha, initiation into the sacred Aum Nama Sivaya mantra, to a devotee at Tirunnavamalai in 2008.

Diksha

Diksha Diksha (दीक्ष, dīkṣā) also spelled deeksha or deeksa in common usage, translated as a “preparation or consecration for a religious ceremony”, is giving of a mantra or an initiation by the guru (in Guru–shishya tradition) of Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Diksa is given in a one-to-one ceremony, and typically includes the taking on...

Shaktism is a Goddess-centric tradition of Hinduism. From left: Parvati/Durga, Kali and Lakshmi

Hindu Denominations

Hindu Denominations Hindu denominations are traditions within Hinduism centered on one or more gods or goddesses, such as Shiva, Shakti, Vishnu, and Brahma. Sometimes the term is used for sampradayas led by a particular guru with a particular philosophy. Hinduism has no central doctrinal authority and many practising Hindus do not claim to belong to any...

A folio from an early 19th-century manuscript copy of the Guru Granth Sahib (Schoyen Collection Norway)

Sikh Scriptures

Sikh Scriptures There are two primary sources of Sikh Scriptures: the Gurū Granth Sāhib and the Dasam Granth. The Gurū Granth Sāhib may be referred to as the Ādi Granth—literally, The First Volume—and the two terms are often used synonymously. Here, however, the Ādi Granth refers to the version of...

all saints day

Saint

Saint A saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness or likeness or closeness to God. However, the use of the term “saint” depends on the context and denomination. In Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox, and Lutheran doctrine, all of their faithful...

Sadhu Color Colorful Hdr Background India Hindu

Guru

Guru Guru (गुरु, guru) is a Sanskrit term for a “teacher, guide, expert, or master” of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, guru is more than a teacher, in Sanskrit guru means the one who dispels the darkness and takes towards light, traditionally a reverential figure to the student, with the guru serving as a “counselor, who helps mold values,...

Hindu god Vishnu surrounded by his Avatars.

Avatar

What Is Avatar? An avatar (अवतार, avatāra), a concept in Hinduism that means “descent”, refers to the material appearance or incarnation of a deity on earth. The relative verb to “alight, to make one’s appearance” is sometimes used to refer to any guru or revered human being. The word avatar does not appear in the Vedic...