The Sikhs are a small religious but conspicuous group all over the world. Many Sikhs are settled in the USA, UK, and Canada though their main concentration is in Indian Punjab. In the USA many Sikhs are mistaken as Muslims but their religion is the antithesis of Islam. The Sikhs support a beard and turban but believe in transmigration and rebirth of the soul. The religion was founded by Guru Nanak and the last guru was Gobind Singh. He is known as the warrior saint and his 350th birth anniversary is celebrated all over the world. The fulcrum of the celebration is at Patna Sahib the Sikh gurudwara in Patna in the Bihar State.
Hundreds of thousands of Sikhs from all over the world have congregated at Patna for the celebration. The PM Modi and the Bihar CM joined the celebration. Many foreign Sikh converts from UK and USA have also come. The celebration with the singing of sacred hymns and a guru ka langar ( free kitchen) has converted the city of Patna to a mini Punjab.
Guru Gobind
Guru Gobind is the most important of the Sikh Gurus. At a time when terror and persecution were the watchwords under the Muslim rulers, the Guru raised the banner of revolt. He enthused the moribund Hindu society to rise up and created the militant arm or the Khalsa in 1699 to fight the Mogul rulers.He decreed that all Sikhs keep unshorn hair and beard and wear a turban.
At that time the bigoted Aurangzeb ruled India. The Guru sacrificed his four sons in the ongoing war and decreed that henceforth there would be no more gurus and Sikhs would revere the holy book "Granth Sahib" as the Guru.
The Guru was also a poet and his works are preserved through the ages. Guru Gobind made a great impact during the middle ages and in times of adversity, the Sikhs remember the guru.
The guru's efforts later led to the Sikh empire in North India.
Celebration
The celebration of the birth of Guru Gobind is going on in all gurudwaras in the USA, Canada, and the UK. There is good news for them as the US armed forces have accepted that Sikhs in the US army will be allowed to wear turbans and keep beards.
