Sikh Identity

2309 Words5 Pages

Sikhism suits the needs of modern life since it is open to everyone who is willing to embrace its practices and doctrines. Sikhism, one of the most scientific and modern religions in the world, is the fifth largest religion. One distinctive characteristic of the Sikh religious practice in comparison to other faiths is the vibrant Sikh identity, which is culturally, spiritually, and visually, able to be noticeable within the crowd. Sikhism has become principally and identifiably a way of appearance, which is the decisive threshold between being a “Sikh” or not, between being someone and being anyone. A Sikh’s identity is known as the “Khalsa”, which means the “community of the pure” (Takhar, 2005). The Khalsa is an example of a transnational religious community, which its sole purpose was to institute a military charge of “saint soldiers.” The Khalsa refers to the baptized Sikhs, who have taken “amrit paul” (Nesbitt, 2002). The Khalsa was responsible for both protection and administration of the community. According to Sikhism, a Sikh should be a scholar, saint, and soldier for God, who must live by an example as the Guru Granth Sahib outlines. Sikhs have their own real identity, which is vividly growing substantially since it possesses its separate religion, institutions, martial traditions, history, and territory. The Khalsa Sikhs could be recognized by the given five articles of Sikhism, the Five Ks (McLeod, 2008). However, how is it possible that a turbaned and bearded portrait of a Sikh comes to embody a religion whose antipathy to the worship of a sacred idol image is the character of its difference from Hinduism? This research paper, argues that the theoretical accounts of the role of the outer appearance relative to the rel...

... middle of paper ...

...

7. McLeod, W. H. (2000). Exploring Sikhism: Aspects of Sikh identity, culture and thought. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

8. McLeod, W. H. (2003). Sikhs of the Khalsa: A history of the Khalsa rahit. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

9. McLeod, W. H. (2004). Sikhs and Sikhism. Oxford India paperbacks. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

10. McLeod, H. (2008). The Five Ks of the Khalsa Sikhs. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 128.2 : 325-331.

11. Nesbitt, E. (2002). The body in Sikh religion. In S. Coakley (Eds.), Religion and the Body (pp. 289-305). UK: Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

12. Takhar, O. K. (2005). Sikh identity: An exploration of groups among Sikhs. Aldershot, England: Ashgate.

13. Uberoi, J.P.S. (1991). Five Symbols of Sikh Identity. In T.N. Madan (Eds.), Religion in India (pp. 320 - 333). Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Open Document