It's Sangraand today and with that it is also the first day of the month, Chet. Yes, today is
THE SIKH NEW YEAR!
Here's wishing every person on this planet a new change, a new life, a new beginning and a new you on this very very happy new year. :) May Waheguru bless you with everything you deserve.
(To learn more about Sangraand, please refer to my post 'Last Month of The Year' dated Feb 14, 2012)
On this blessed occasion that marks & reminds us the Sikh way of life year after year, I thought I would share with you an amazing Sikh story..................
In 1913, when the World War I was going on, the Indian Army (then British Indian Army) was called to come fight for the common cause. During this time, when the Sikh Regiment of the Indian Army was asked to join, the Sikh soldiers refused to go on the battleground without taking Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji (the Sikh holy scripture) along with them. Keeping in mind the request of the Sikh soldiers, the British government got thirteen miniature Sri Guru Granth Sahib prepared from a printing press in Germany for thirteen regiments in the Indian Army. Each of these were 1 inch in size and contained 1430 ang (pages). The Sikh soldiers took these miniature Guru Granth Sahibs with them and went on to win many battles under the blessings and safe eyes of their holy scripture. The Sikh soldiers would always take the hukamnama (word of the day) from the Guru Granth Sahib before going to the battlefield. After they would take the hukamnama, a Sikh soldier would put the miniature sized 1-inch Guru Granth Sahib in a special miniature box made out of silver and keep it in his turban. There used to a special lens in the silver box that helped the soldiers in reading out the Guru's words from the 1-inch book.
These 100 year old historic Guru Granth Sahibs are still around today with one of them being safely kept at Gurudwara Mai Than Sahib at Agra. This i-inch swaroop of the Guru Granth Sahib along with some other historic pieces (a 224 year old Guru Granth Sahib Ji written using dyes made out of out of rock and a 275 year old Guru Granth Sahib Ji handwritten by Baba Deep Singh Ji & Bhaayi Mani Singh Ji) is currently on a tour of various cities to provide Sikhs in other parts of the country an opportunity to see and learn from the history of their religion and scriptures.
I had the fantastic opportunity to see all three (mentioned above) today as the historic tour made a stop in my city. It was a wonderful day to start a wonderful new year ahead. I did not have a camera on me at that moment and unfortunately, the picture I clicked on my phone didn't turn out worthwhile. So, I am going to try again tomorrow to see if I can get some pictures for all of you before it leaves the city. Can't promise but I will try my best!
I hope you liked my New Year story and that it inspired you in some way. For one thing, it's real and it's part of our rich Sikh history. Happy Year 544 to everyone! :)
******
March 15, 2012
Here are the pictures as promised yesterday:
THE SIKH NEW YEAR!
Here's wishing every person on this planet a new change, a new life, a new beginning and a new you on this very very happy new year. :) May Waheguru bless you with everything you deserve.
(To learn more about Sangraand, please refer to my post 'Last Month of The Year' dated Feb 14, 2012)
On this blessed occasion that marks & reminds us the Sikh way of life year after year, I thought I would share with you an amazing Sikh story..................
In 1913, when the World War I was going on, the Indian Army (then British Indian Army) was called to come fight for the common cause. During this time, when the Sikh Regiment of the Indian Army was asked to join, the Sikh soldiers refused to go on the battleground without taking Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji (the Sikh holy scripture) along with them. Keeping in mind the request of the Sikh soldiers, the British government got thirteen miniature Sri Guru Granth Sahib prepared from a printing press in Germany for thirteen regiments in the Indian Army. Each of these were 1 inch in size and contained 1430 ang (pages). The Sikh soldiers took these miniature Guru Granth Sahibs with them and went on to win many battles under the blessings and safe eyes of their holy scripture. The Sikh soldiers would always take the hukamnama (word of the day) from the Guru Granth Sahib before going to the battlefield. After they would take the hukamnama, a Sikh soldier would put the miniature sized 1-inch Guru Granth Sahib in a special miniature box made out of silver and keep it in his turban. There used to a special lens in the silver box that helped the soldiers in reading out the Guru's words from the 1-inch book.
These 100 year old historic Guru Granth Sahibs are still around today with one of them being safely kept at Gurudwara Mai Than Sahib at Agra. This i-inch swaroop of the Guru Granth Sahib along with some other historic pieces (a 224 year old Guru Granth Sahib Ji written using dyes made out of out of rock and a 275 year old Guru Granth Sahib Ji handwritten by Baba Deep Singh Ji & Bhaayi Mani Singh Ji) is currently on a tour of various cities to provide Sikhs in other parts of the country an opportunity to see and learn from the history of their religion and scriptures.
I had the fantastic opportunity to see all three (mentioned above) today as the historic tour made a stop in my city. It was a wonderful day to start a wonderful new year ahead. I did not have a camera on me at that moment and unfortunately, the picture I clicked on my phone didn't turn out worthwhile. So, I am going to try again tomorrow to see if I can get some pictures for all of you before it leaves the city. Can't promise but I will try my best!
I hope you liked my New Year story and that it inspired you in some way. For one thing, it's real and it's part of our rich Sikh history. Happy Year 544 to everyone! :)
******
March 15, 2012
Here are the pictures as promised yesterday:
100 year old, 1 x 1 inch, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, on a miniature paalki with a reading light and magnifying lens
A close up look of the 100 year old, 1 x 1 inch, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji
225 year old Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji written using dyes made out of rock
275 years old Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji handwritten by Baba Deep Singh Ji and Bhaayi Mani Singh Ji
No comments:
Post a Comment