The Gurbani Kirtan is the musical performance of the sacred texts of Sikhism, and listening to the “Singing of the Word of the Gurus” is a fundamental devotional activity for practicing Sikhs. This is perhaps especially true in Sikh American society, in which traditional rituals and beliefs are both religiously important as well as crucial reminders of cultural identity. There are now several hundred thousand Sikh Americans, and the fundamental nexus of worship within any Sikh community is a temple known as a gurdwara, or “Door to God,” of which there are several hundred in the United States today. By definition, a gurdwara is a space that has been appropriately dedicated to receive and house the Sikh scriptures.
Gurdwaras play an important traditional role in Sikh society, as they provide food and rest to all visitors, and thus have provided important waypoints in the movement of Sikh populations across the globe. The first gurdwara in the United States was established in 1912 in Stockton, California, and it remains an operating Sikh temple to this day. Gurdwaras provide additional resources and hold special significance to Sikh immigrants, as these are the locales where traditions and beliefs—which are commonplace and widely understood in the Punjab but alien and often misinterpreted in America—are protected, nurtured, and passed along to new generations of Sikh Americans. It is thus all the more tragic that a Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, was the scene of a mass shooting on August 5, 2012, by a deranged gunman. The assailant was killed by the police, and this crime was seen as an act of domestic terrorism.
Because of their iconic turbans and beards, Sikhs are conspicuous by their appearance in American society, and unfortunately, many uninformed Americans believe Sikhs to be a threatening presence. Early racist attitudes toward Sikhs have only intensified since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks when reactionary Americans mistakenly associated Sikhs with Muslims. Indeed, the first victim of “retaliation” after 9/11 was Balbir Singh Sodhi, an Arizona gas station owner mistakenly associated with the attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. Although within the Sikh community turbans represent religious faith, social justice, and love of God and neighbor, many Americans harbor false and troubling associations with this iconic head-garb. Gurdwaras, then, provide a space where the true meaning of Sikhism may be both nurtured for Sikh Americans and disseminated to the wider American community.
Religious services at a gurdwara would include the recitation of the Gurbani Kirtan, but many contemporary Sikh Americans might also listen to or watch broadcasts of such divine services via the Internet or satellite television direct from the Golden Temple, the sanctum sanctorum of Sikhism in India. Sikh Americans might also listen to recordings of the Gurbani Kirtan in their homes, might well recite it themselves, or might hire professionals known as Ragis, “Hymn Singers,” or Granthis, “Scripture Keepers,” to lead devotions in private homes. To commemorate milestone events such as births, deaths, and weddings, Sikh Americans might arrange for the nonstop performance of the nearly fifteen hundred pages of the Guru Granth Sahib, the “Holy Book [which is] Guru,” a practice known as Akhand Path, which takes approximately two full days and nights in its entirety. In most Sikh American families there would be a decided emphasis on passing along the traditions of the Gurbani Kirtan both as a fundamental form of religious instruction and as a way of encouraging younger generations to remain in touch with their Sikh heritage.
Sikhs follow the wisdom and direction of a number of gurus, or “teachers,” the tenth of whom was the last to take human form. In the early days of the eighteenth century, and shortly before he left this life, that guru, Gobind Singh, declared the Adi Granth, or holy scriptures of the Sikhs, to be the earthly embodiment of his successor as guru, which is why that compilation is also known as Guru Granth Sahib. Gurbani thus refers to the “Word” of the Divine as this has been revealed in the 1,430 pages of holy Sikh scripture. Kirtan, on the other hand, refers to the act of “singing” or chanting those sacred words. This performative aspect of Sikh worship stretches all the way back to the very first guru, Nanak Dev, who was an itinerant preacher of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries and who traveled with a musician who accompanied him as he sang out verses of wisdom and spiritual power for his followers. Indeed, except for an introductory section, the entire Guru Granth Sahib is composed in verse and is meant to be sung.
Although the quality of the singing is undoubtedly of some significance, and certainly many professional singers rise to popular heights performing the sacred verses today, it is the spiritual focus and clarity of intent of one reciting the scriptures that is truly important. Worshippers today may listen to the Gurbani Kirtan performed by any number of singers through a variety of media and in various venues, always striving to enter into a deeper communion with holy Sikh teaching through concentrating on the words and messages of the verses, and utilizing the accompanying music as a meditative medium through which one might enter a higher state of receptiveness to the spiritual significance of those words.
C. Fee
See also South Asian American Folklore and Folktales
Further Reading
Mandair, Arvind-Pal Singh. 2013. Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Mann, Gurinder Singh, Paul David Numrich, and Raymond B. Williams 2002. Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs in America. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
McLeod, W. H. 1968. Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Shackle, Christopher, and Arvind Mandair. 2005. Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Selections from the Sikh Scriptures. New York: Routledge.