Five people were arrested on Thursday (11 May) after the explosion, the third in less than a week, which occurred near the Golden Temple in the Indian city of Amritsar, police said. This structure, erected within a large artificial pool, is Sikhism’s holiest.

This religion was founded in the 15th century in the Punjab region, in northwestern India and on the border with Pakistan. His followers were Sikhs, or “disciples” in Punjabi. They believe in an eternal and creative God, both immanent and transcendent. Sikhism encourages an honest life, renouncing the consumption of meat, alcohol and tobacco.

According to tradition, Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak, born in 1469 and died in 1539, who was succeeded by nine other gurus. When the tenth died in 1708, the holy book of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahibbecome the eternal teacher.

fifth world religion

Today, the number of Sikhs is 30 million, most of them living in Punjab, making Sikh the fifth most widely practiced religion in the world (after Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism).

They claim a separate tradition from Hinduism, although Western scholars believe that Sikhism was originally a Hindu movement. Some even evoked Islamic influence, through contact with the Mughal Empire, which ruled India in the 16th century.

Sikhism underwent a major evolution with the appearance of the sixth guru, Guru Hargobind. This adds a temporal dimension to his religious power. He took up arms several times against the Mughal Empire. His political enterprise, after his death, led to the establishment of an independent state in 1799, conquered by the British in 1894. His predecessor, Arjun Dev, had built the Golden Temple at Amristar.

The tenth and final guru, Guru Gobind Singh, who is considered the most important of all besides Guru Nanak, founded an order of warriors called the Khalsa. In order to choose his first members, he summoned five disciples who were ready to sacrifice themselves. Those who accepted were released and joined the Khalsa.

Five K

By integrating this order, contemporary Sikhs adopt distinctive markings that make them instantly identifiable. These obligations, five in total, are called the Five K’s. Kesh –, which they cover with a certain type of turban, namely the dastar.

Many Sikh men have the name “Singh”, derived from the Sanskrit word sinha, meaning “lion” – found in “Singapore”, “lion city”. As an example, we can cite Manhoman Singh, Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014. Women are often called “Kaur”, meaning “princess” – like the Canadian poet Rupi Kaur.

Since the 1970s, some Sikhs have called for the creation of a theocratic state, which in 1984 culminated in the massacre of hundreds of them in the Golden Temple by Indian soldiers. Two Sikhs, Indira Gandhi’s bodyguards, had killed the Prime Minister in retaliation.