Payal Singh Mohanka remembers the 10th Guru of the Sikhs.
His birthplace, the gurdwara in Patna, popularly known as Patna Sahib, is the 2nd most important holy shrine for Sikhs after the Golden Temple.
Each year on his birth anniversary more than 100,000 pilgrims gather to pay homage to the Guru who spent his childhood there.
Guru Gobind Singh displayed extraordinary courage and wisdom. He lived according to the tenets of Sikhism: Humanity is one family.
All men are the same,
It is only through error
That we see them different
All men are endowed with the same eyes
The same ears and same body
They are built of the same elements.
The 10th Guru created the Khalsa in 1699. Khalsa was the true Singh who embraced the five Ks: Unshorn hair, a comb, shorts, a sword and an iron bangle.
Guru Gobind Singh protested against the tyranny and forcible conversion by the Mughal emperors. His father Guru Tegh Bahadur sacrificed his life to protect Hindus. Guru Gobind Singh too fought to uphold this. For his ideals he sacrificed his four sons and finally his own life.
Guru Gobind Singh took up Guru Nanak's spiritual heritage and disseminated it. The warrior prophet was a shining light in an hour of darkness. And continues to be an inspiration for all Sikhs.
Sikhism is a way of life shown to mankind by the 10 Gurus. A faith devoid of elaborate rituals and idol worship. The Gurus preached a way of life. There is just one God. He is Absolute, Eternal, the All Pervading Divine Spirit.