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Observant Sikhs adhere to long-standing
practices and traditions to strengthen and express their faith.
The daily recitation from memory of specific passages from the
Gurū Granth Sāhib, especially the Japu (or Japjī,
literally chant) hymns is recommended immediately after
rising and bathing. Family customs include both reading passages
from the scripture and attending the gurdwara (also gurduārā,
meaning the doorway to God). There are many gurdwaras prominently
constructed and maintained across India, as well as in almost
every nation where Sikhs reside. Gurdwaras are open to all, regardless
of religion, background, caste or race.
Worship in a gurdwara consists chiefly
of singing of passages from the scripture. Sikhs will commonly
enter the temple, touch the ground before the holy scripture with
their foreheads, and make an offering. The recitation of the eighteenth
century ardās is also customary
for attending Sikhs. The ardās recalls past sufferings and glories
of the community, invoking divine grace for all humanity.[35]
The most sacred shrine is the Harimandir Sahib in Amritsar,
famously known as the Golden Temple. Groups of Sikhs regularly
visit and congregate at the Harimandir Sahib. On specific occasions,
groups of Sikhs are permitted to undertake a pilgrimage to Sikh
shrines in the province of Punjab in Pakistan,
especially at Nankana Sahib and the samādhī (place of
cremation) of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Lahore.
Festivals in Sikhism mostly centre
around the lives of the Gurus and Sikh martyrs. The SGPC,
the Sikh organisation in charge of upkeep of the gurdwaras, organises
celebrations based on the new Nanakshahi calendar. This calendar
is highly controversial among Sikhs and is not universally accepted.
Several festivals (Hola Mohalla, Diwali and Guru Nanak's birthday)
continue to be celebrated using the Hindu calendar. Sikh festivals
include the following:
- Gurpurabs are celebrations
or commemorations based on the lives of the Sikh gurus. They
tend to be either birthdays or celebrations of Sikh martyrdom.
- Vaisakhi normally occurs on
13 April and marks the beginning of the new spring year and
the end of the harvest. Sikhs celebrate it because on Vaisakhi
in 1699, the tenth guru, Gobind Singh, began the Khalsa baptismal tradition.
- Diwali
(also known as bandī chōḍ divas) celebrates Guru
Hargobind's release from the Gwalior Jail on 26 October 1619.
- Hola Mohalla occurs the
day after Holi
and is when the Khalsa Panth gather at
Anandpur and display their fighting skills.
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