Guru Nanak

This year marks the 555th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak [1469-1539], the founder of Sikhism, a monotheistic religion born in 15th-century. Guru Nanak preached harmony between Hinduism and Islam.  

The followers of Sikhisism must carry five articles all the time. They are known as the Five Ks: the Kesh (uncut hair), Kara (a steel bracelet), Kanga (a wooden comb), Kaccha (cotton underwear), and Kirpan (a curved dagger).

Guru Nanak is the first Sikh Guru. Nine gurus followed him and there is no living human successor, but the Sikh holy book Guru Granth Sahib is considered the 11th and eternal.

Guru Nanak was born in a Khatri family in 1469 during the rule of Bahlul Khan Lodi, founder of the Lodi dynasty. His birth took place  at the village of Talwandi ((now called Nankana Sahib), thirty-five miles south-west of Lahore and situated in the Nankana Sahib district in the Punjab province of Pakistan. 

Nanak's father was a Patwari (accountant). Nanak was given formal education and employed as an assistant to his brother-in-law, Jai Rama, who was in the service of Daulat Khan Lodi, governor of Lahore, at Sultanpur Lodi in Punjab. 

At Sultanpur Lodi Nanak began his religious career preaching a faith based on equality and one God. He wandered over the country and even beyond as far as Makkah and Medina. He died in 1539 in Kartarpur in Pakistan. 

Nanak had married, lived the life of a householder and had two sons. He believed that married life was not a bar to spiritual progress. He preached the gospel of universal toleration and opposed caste-based distinctions and religious fanaticism. His message was one of unity of God and personal love for him. Both Hindu and Muslim were among his disciples. He nominated Angada, one of his disciples as his successor who gave unity and organisation to his followers. Gradually they became known as the Sikhs.