Learning About Our Local Sikhs During The Holidays

As the world changes and we start to resemble more of a global community, there is little excuse not to learn about the neighbors and fellow community members that come from other lands. If you politely show an interest in them, politely ask questions, and be respectful, the rest is just an internet search and some reading away.

“Merry Christmas,” says the shop owner at the local liquor shop.

So, I wondered, do his people even celebrate Christmas, or are they being polite to the customers. They’ve been among us for such a long time that they celebrate both Christmas and their holidays.

“We celebrate Christmas because our kids were born here and all of their friends celebrate Christmas.”

It made me wonder, who exactly are the Sikh people and what do they celebrate. So, I wished him a perfunctory, “Happy Holidays my friend,” and went on about my travels to a family get-together. However, I was still curious. In my community, we’ve had people that are Sikhs with us for many years now. How have they been here so long and I knew so little?

Sikhs

To start, I’d like to acknowledge that I’ve never had a bad experience with the local members of the Sikh community. They are incredibly kind, polite, decent, and by all accounts, hard-working people.

Sikhism

Sikhism is a religion and philosophy that was first founded in the Punjab region of the subcontinent of India in the late 15th century. Its members are known as Sikhs. They call their faith Gurmat, which is Punjabi for “The way of the Guru”.

According to their traditional belief, Sikhism was established by Guru Nanak (1469–1539) and led by a succession of nine more Gurus. All of these Gurus, the Sikhs believe, were inhabited by a single spirit. Upon the death of the 10th, Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708) the eternal Guru transfers its spirit to the sacred scriptures of Sikhism. By the earth 21st century there were an estimated 25 million Sikhs worldwide, the vast majority of them residing in the Indian state of Punjab.

Sikh Holidays

In the Sikh faith, sacred holidays are a very high priority. The most important holidays of Sikhism are gurpurbs, festivals marking the birthday or martyrdom of a Guru. Most Sikh holidays are celebrated by performing a ritual 48-hr reading of the entire Guru Granth Sahib, precessions, preaching, prayer, and congregational worship services.

Guru Gobind Singh’s Birthday — January 5, 2022

Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru, was born in the year 1666. His birthday is celebrated in December or January. He is the founder of Khalsa and nominated the Guru, Granth Sahib, the holy book, as his successor Guru.

Maghi — January 14th, 2022

Maghi celebrates the martyrdom of “Forty Immortals,” forty followers of Guru Singh who had deserted him previously, fought valiantly against the Mughal army, and were martyred in Muktsar. On Maghi, Sikhs visit gurdwara and listen to the kirtan or hymns. The largest of such gatherings is at Muktsar where an annual festival takes place.

Hola Maholla — March 26, 2022

Hola Maholla is celebrated in Anandpur on the festival of Holi and in memory of Guru Gobind Singh. The day was instituted by the Guru as one for military exercises and mock combat, followed by musical celebrations and poetry contests. The holiday continues to be observed with mock battles and displays of horsemanship and skill with a sword. Every year there are processions with the Sikh flag and the Guru Granth Sahib.

Vaisakhi — April 14th, 2022

Vaisakhi, in April, originated as a Hindu festival of Thanksgiving but for Sikhs and it marks the founding of the Khalsa in 1699. For those who are ready, this is the day that they are baptized and the Sikh flag is replaced.

Martyrdom of Guru Arjan — June 16th, 2022

The fifth Guru, Gura Arjan, was tortured and murdered by the Mughal emperor Jahangir in 1606. His martyrdom is commemorated in May.

Celebration of the Guru Granth Sahib — September

This is a festival celebrated in August or September that commemorates the completion of the Sikh holy text in 1606.

Diwali-Varies

Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights that was taken by the Sikhs in celebration of the release from prison of Guru Hargobind, the sixth Guru, from imprisonment in 169. The Golden Temple was lit up to welcome the Guru home and the Sikhs continued the tradition by lighting lamps on Diwali each year. The Golden Temple is illuminated with thousands of lights.

Guru Nanak’s Birthday — November 15th, 2022

Also in October is Guru Nanak’s birthday. He was born in 1469 in what is now modern-day Pakistan.

Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur — November 24th, 2022

Guru Tegh Bahadur was the 9th Guru and was executed in November of 1675 by the emperor Aurangzeb.

While many of the celebrations, outside the ones they may enjoy in other parts of the world, are rooted in honoring their Gurus the Sikhs have their traditions that date back hundreds of years. Many of the traditions are honoring the suffering done by their ancestors, showing that like other cultures, they’ve suffered dark times. When you look at a majority of the country that is the subcontinent of India, it’s a beautiful land filled with majestic architecture, the arts, and some wonderful people.

My Final Thoughts

I haven’t made it around the world. Nor do I expect to do so at this stage in my life. But, with the advantage of information available from our desks, we can take the time to learn something about the people that come to our communities and become one of us. It’s up to us to get to know the wonderful people that choose to make their places in the hometowns and communities we so easily find time to complain about. Perhaps it’s because we saw better days in our pasts that we take what we have for granted. The lesson I learned in this interaction was that while I might not always see what is right in front of my face, others, from other lands, find what we have to still be a land of promise and opportunity. So, the next time I am wished a Merry Christmas by one of these kind, thoughtful, hardworking people I can now say Happy Holidays and actually know what they might celebrate at different times of year.

References:

Religion Facts — religionfacts.com/sikhism/holidays

Britannica — britannica.com/topics/sikhism/The-20th-century-to-present