Guru Gobind Singh January 5

Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) is the last of the ten Gurus of Sikhism and the creator of the Khalsa, the chivalric order of the Sikhs.. Gobind Singh became a guru at the age of just 9.

Shortly before his death, the ninth guru received a delegation of 500 Brahmins from Kashmir: the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb ordered them to convert to Islam under penalty of death. This was a way of marking the domination of radical Mughal Islam over Hindu traditions, the latter being particularly well preserved in Kashmir.

Guru Tegh Bahadur was thinking about a way to put an end to these massacres. Then Gobind Rai (Gobind Singh) who was returning home after a game, appeared. He questioned his father about the reason for the presence of this delegation and also what Guru Tegh Bahadur was thinking about. His father explained the situation to him. Gobind Rai then asked him what solution he had found at the end of his thinking. Guru Tegh Bahadur replied that a great man must certainly sacrifice himself.

So Gobind Rai replied that there was no one today more respectable and greater than him. This is how a 9-year-old child sent his father to sacrifice in an attempt to preserve the Sikh religion. This is also how Guru Tegh Bahadur recognized Gobind Rai as being ready to become the future Sikh guru.

He completed Guru Nanak's enterprise. He completed the Adi Granth which became the Guru Granth Sahib, militarized the Sikhs, formed the Khalsa Panth (community of the Pure). He established the Amrit Sanskar (Sikh baptism). After many years of fighting the Mughal troops and the persecutions of Aurangzeb, he consecrated the Sri Guru Granth Sahib: The Book saint as his ultimate successor as perpetual guru.

The guru therefore decided to establish the Khande of Pahul or amrit sanskar. This action would also allow him to fundamentally differentiate a Sikh from a Hindu or a Muslim. Until then, Sikhs had no specific rituals marking entry into the community.

THE April 14, 1699 At Keshgar Sahib, today one of the five Takhts, the guru established the baptism ceremony. For this he chose five Sikhs, the Panj Piare: having become the five beloved, he baptized them, then asked the five himself to offer him the Amrit Sanskar. From Gobind Rai he became Gobind Singh. Since that day, all Sikhs are called Singh (lion) for men and Kaur (princess) for women; all must follow the Rehat Maryada (a code of conduct) and wear the Five Ks.