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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Sikh millions gather for historic jubilee |
| 2004-08-29 |
| via BBC (of course, who else?) - EFL By Asit Jolly - Sunday, 29 August, 2004, 02:10 GMT 03:10 UK Sikhs from all over the world have begun arriving in the holy city of Amritsar, northern India, to commemorate the 400th year of the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, on 1 September. That's pretty old, I guess. The holiest Sikh shrine, the Golden Temple, will be the centre of celebrations that are expected to attract more than 4m visitors to Amritsar, in the northern state of Punjab. 4 Million. Do these guys know how to party, or what? I wonder how many thousands you have to go thru before you find one more distant than 1st cousin? There is a distinct air of festivity in Amritsar's Old City, which surrounds the Golden Temple, also known as Harimandir Sahib - a site as sacred to Sikhs as Mecca is to Muslims. Whoa! And we know how holy that is, eh? 1 September 2004 has a special significance for the Sikhs. Oh boy, more! It was on this day, exactly 400 years ago, that the Guru Granth Sahib - a textual compilation of the teachings of the Sikh Gurus - was brought to the Golden Temple by the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev. Awright, delivery, too! Ok, I'm in. ...more... Since we've now been drafted into the Holy Stuff world, I thought I'd post this for the Sikhs. Besides, they get to carry daggers, have the best beards, by far, and a serious hat thing going on. Happy Guru Day, my Sikh Bros. Get it on - but watch those daggers and party safe! |
| Posted by:.com |
| #6 What we found strange was that they kept recognizing us as Americans It's the body-language and physical attributes. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-08-29 8:49:26 PM |
| #5 All the Sikh people I have met here in the US were nice folk. It sad they have been oppressed in India in the past. I often wondered about the dagger thing in high school. We make having a knife a crime on school property and these folks (men) must carry one as part of their religion. Yes they carry it hidden so you don't even know they have one here in the west. That should just freak the LLLs and moonbats out. Imagine that, they carry "concealed weapons"! "Oh humanity!" |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-08-29 5:38:51 PM |
| #4 I was in India two years ago and a local business contact, a Sikh, took a co-worker and I to a Sikh festival, the Gurupurjab (sp?). I linked some of our pics to Rantburg afterward in the comments to a previous Sikh new article (I don't have them up on a site right now, though). It was a rolling good time, crazy crowds, elephants, bands and some kids demostrating their sword and spear skills. Apparently there are "clubs" of a sort that teach that sort of thing. I got the impression the clubs were like a combination of the Boy Scouts and Karate School, mixed together. Very cool, and the crowds were very friendly to us. What we found strange was that they kept recognizing us as Americans, yet India is crawling with European tourists (we never ran into any Americans other than our group in six weeks, but Europeans all over the place). We weren't dressed differently so much from the Europeans though. At least to my eyes, lol. |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2004-08-29 5:27:20 PM |
| #3 I like their headgear: neatly folded and sharp creases, not like others we know and see. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-08-29 12:26:10 PM |
| #2 4 million daggers, religious fervor, hindu and muslim enemies...sounds like a party! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-08-29 10:41:28 AM |
| #1 I wonder when the scheduled religious riot is due? It's sort of pro forma for gatherings like this. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2004-08-29 10:37:48 AM |
