Sikhism Introduction
Sikhism, founded by Guru Nanak in the fifteenth century, is the youngest of the world's four great monotheistic religions.
There are 18-20 million Sikhs in the world, and 80% of them live in the Punjab, area of South Asia, which now falls into the present day states of India and Pakistan, where the faith began.
Other countries with large Sikh population are Britain (500,000), Canada (225,000) and the USA (100,000). The word "Sikh" is Punjabi for "disciple" and Sikhs are disciples of the Gurus.
Sikh men are particularly easy to identify because they all have a full beard, and wear their hair uncut and contained in a turban.
The Sikh place of worship is called a Gurdwara.
The Sikh philosphy does not have a place for priests as a religious or social entity, but most gurdwaras will have a Granthi. A Granthi is a learned Sikh who is skilled in reading and interpreting the scriptures, however, a Granthi has no special religious status.
The principal Sikh scripture is the Guru Granth Sahib.
Sikhs believe that the words of these scriptures are the present day embodiment of the Sikh Guru and they treat the book with the respect and devotion that they would have given to a human Guru.