Bandi Chor Divas "diwali"

[Akaali]

vaahegurujeekaakhalsaavaahegurujeekeefateh

This article speaks my mind exactly. Have a read instead of following the majority.

Bandhi-Chor or an Alibi?

Every year, with arrival of Diwali I am forced to ponder over the hypocrisy that has entrenched our Sikh society. Sure, I am afraid to reason on Diwali/Bandi-Chor Diwas and its importance within the four walls of the Gurudwara, as it would amount to playing with sentiments and lead us nowhere.

So for years I have started isolating myself more and more from this occasion. Unless of course there is great keertan darbaar going on in the Gurudwara, I make it a point not to be present in any community celebrations on this day.

Am I taking it too far?

I don’t know. But I would surely appreciate if someone can help me understand why I should not take it too far!

Here are some thoughts on Diwali/Bandhi Chor Diwas.

Till date Historians have not reached a consensus on the period of Guru Hargobind Jis’ stay in the Fort of Gwalior. Historical texts indicate this period from as short as Forty days to as long as 12 years (Dabistan-I-Mazahi by Muhsin Fani). Some periods indicated in historical texts are 1617 – 19, 1609 – 1611, etc. Muhsin Fani is obviously wrong in stating the 12 year period because most of Gurus children were born during these years.

We know that Indian Calendar system is lunar based and therefore the no. of days in the Solar based calendar does not match with Indian system. If we are not sure about Guru Hargoind Jis period of stay and his discharge from the Gwalior Prison, then how can we mathematically calculate that Bandhi Chor Gurpurab falls every year on the Hindu festival day of Diwali?

If one may object to the above point, then let’s look at it the other way around. If we are sure that he was allowed to leave the prison on Diwali day, then historians should be able to work backwards and have a better understanding of the year of his release.

But till date our historical records are vague about the period he was imprisoned and the year of his discharge.

Some justify the use of heavy lighting at Darbar Sahib on Diwali by linking it with arrival of Guru Hargobind Ji to the city of Amritsar after having been released from Gwalior prison and having sought the release of Hindu nobles (and therefore Bandhi Chor) with his release. It is said that the residents of Amritsar lighted up their houses in happiness of his arrival.

So what are we trying to celebrate on this day?

Release of Bandhis from the Fort of Gwalior or the arrival of Guru Ji at Amritsar?

If Guru Ji arrived at Amritsar on Diwali day, then wouldn’t it be but obvious that a large section of Hindu population residing in Amritsar would have as it is lighted up their houses because of the festive occasion of Diwali?

If we are celebrating the release of Bandhis from the Fort of Gwalior on that day, then one wonders how would the message of release have reached Darbar Sahib the same day over a distance of 600 Kilometers for the Sangat there to have lighted up the lamps?

While Bandhi Chor may be perceived as an important event by many Sikhs and I don’t want to take away the importance from this event, but keep an open mind and think why is it that we Sikhs light up the Darbar Sahib on Bandhi Chor Gurpurab only?

Aren’t other Gurpurabs as much important?

Isn’t Gur-Gaddi Diwas of Guru Granth Sahib important?

Wouldn’t the arrival of Guru Tegh Bahadur to the city of Amritsar warrant the same kind of happiness as at the time of arrival of Guru Hargobind Ji?

We don’t light up Darbar Sahib in the same way on other important Gurupurabs, so why is it that we do it only on Diwali?

Well let’s not cheat ourselves. The reality is that in-spite of having been Sikhs for centuries, we still don’t want to give up our past baggage of Hindu festivals.

Every Year, come Diwali, Raagis in our Gurudwaras are heard singing the Shabad “Diwali Di Raat, Divey Baliyan”. For the layman the singing of this Shabad of Bhai Gurdas, using an analogy line as the Asthai (Chorus) of the Shabad truly distorts the essence. Repeated singing of this Shabad on this occasion makes it appear that Diwali is a sanctioned festival in Sikhism. But a full reading of the Shabad conveys a totally different message.

Essence of the Shabad is that pleasures of festivities, pilgrimages, etc are momentary and only an understanding of Gurus Shabad leads to prime pleasure of the mind.

Bhai Gurdas Jis’ Vaar 19 Pauri 6

Diwali Di Raat Devey Baliyan

Tarey Jaat Sanat Ambar Bhaliyan

Phula Di Bagat Chun Chun Chaliyan

Tirath Jati Jat Nain Nihaliyan

Har Chandauri Jhat Vasaye Uchaliyan

Gurmukh Sukh Ful Daat Sabad Smaliyan

Lamps are lighted on the night of Diwali festival; stars of different variety appear in the sky; in the gardens the flowers are there which are selectively plucked; the pilgrims going to pilgrimage centers are also seen and the imaginary habitats have been seen coming into being and vanishing. All these are momentary, but the Gurmukhs with the help of Word nourish the gift of the pleasure fruit.

As most Sikhs originated from the Hindu mainstream, have we not found an Alibi (an excuse) in Bandi Chor for our inability to part with our past baggage of celebrating the Hindu festival of Diwali?

Amardeep Singh

I am not the Author of this article. However, I do know the author very well. The author does not intend to play down the importance of Bandhi Chore nor is he asking you to make a grumpy face and sit at home..He is just asking you to wonder why we celebrate in this manner.. Is this event more special than most Gurupurabs?

Also I would like to point out the fact that Harminder Sahib and many other Gurudawaras were under the control of Hindu Mahants..from the time the Sikh Empire fell in 1849 to the early 1900’s( I am not too sure of the year) when the Sikhs won the right to take charge of their own shrines..During this time in harminder sahib around the parkikarma there were idols of hindu gods and goddesses..

Angad Singh

vaahegurujeekaakhalsaavaahegurujeekeefateh

[B4ND4]

Never ever liked the fireworks and lighting up the houses. Good article. Send it out to everyone through emails, blogs etc.

[Mehtab Singh]

Once on a Diwali, my best friend in high school (a Sikh) and his brothers and friends were enjoying bursting fire crackers. This was in UAE, in the Middle East. There was a fire brigade office near the place they were playing. Those guys came and asked them to stop it. These guys agreed to stop, and the fire brigade people went away. But then my friend and his gang fired rockets on the office .

[B4ND4]

Celebrations can be done in a better way thn lighting candles and fireworks. The amount of money that is wasted over such things could be used for a better cause. Imagine if everyone did that and donated all the money(being wasted) for a humanitarion purpose this place would be a better place to live. I am not sure how much these crackers/explosives cost in the west but their price is skyrocketing in India. Its a shame that people waste money on this stuff while a malnourished half-naked child standing out in a chilly winter night goes unnoticed. Now that is what i call a celebration. Celebrating murder of humanity?? Sikhi is far more then making huge gurudware and wasting money in the name of celebrations. Don't forget the lesson taught by Baba Nanak, the lesson of "Sacha Sauda".

I suggest we all read the newspapers after these so called celebrations to get a very rough idea of the pollution that we are responsible for. I am sure if Guru Ji were here in physical roop they would have been disgusted with these 'celebrations'. Sikhi is not about living in a bubble, we need to think rationally and understand the big picture. We are up in arms fighting for sikh rights and khalsitan but it appears we dont give a damn about the world around us. We(unintentionally) are destroying this earth but if we can contribute even the least bit to keep this place clean that is what would be classified as seva. We'll argue endlessly over killing innocent animals but at the same time we forget how we are killing fellow humans(with all kinds of pollution). How ignorant can we get??

We should also know who makes these patake/shurlian and in what conditions are they made(in India). Children are employed to do all this, no safety measures are taken, they use bare hands to handle the gunpowder and we enjoy fireworks at the expense of these children. Do we still think that we are celebrating gurpurab??

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Theek aa its gurpurab and we should celebrate. Keertan karo, Bani Sunno, Bani Parro...once you are able to do that pher parchar karro. We all know how gurughars have become more of a partying place. Lighting candles/ doing fireworks is just like adding a bit more fun to the party, its jus like having 'gurr' after 'raat di roti'.

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As far as the original artcile is concerned i feel it does ask a very straight forward question, why just on this day do sikhs light candles/fireworks why not on any other gurpurabs?? If anyone has a valid answer to that please do contribute to this thread.

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I have nothing against people who light candles or do anythg on this day. Just felt like sharing my thoughts with you guys.

[OhTwadi]

the article does raise some very valid points and it changed my outlook on things :lol:

[AK-47]

Banda, i appreciate your comments, but guru ji is here in physical form. The problem we have is that our eyes do not see him. I think this is what Guru ji would find rather more disgusting then the fact that people like setting off fireworks once a year.

While your point is valid, in the scope of things, it is a small point. Would Guru Ji not enquire about whether we had a good early amritvela, were we doing enough simran abhiyas, were we doing enough seva with our own hands, were we keeping our rehat, were we being commpassionate and loving to our fellow people, etc etc etc. The fact that all of the above is lacking in most of us, is what would probably be more of an issue, than some fireworks.

We all, myself included focus on these external issues becuase they are easy to identify, but it is the harder ones we should be making a fuss over. Rather then focusing on other people setting of fire works which are in the main harmless, we should be perhaps focusing on other things.

If we wish to discuss the pollution from fireworks, then lets first discuss how we travel? Travelling to schools, unis work and gurdwara's day after day is causing more pollution than one nights worth of fireworks. Yet it is easy to say 'im not going to do fireworks' but much harder to walk those miles to uni rather then catch the bus.

It is easier to discuss child labour in regards to fireworks, but harder to not buy labelled clothing the majority of which is made by either children or underpaid workers in the east.

Its easier to not spend money on fireworks and think about starving children, but much harder to do the same when we want to go to the cinema, buy a new top, new shoes, computer games, cars, houses etc etc etc.

I dont mean to knock your points, they have truth in them. It just i think we all sometimes get into a bit of a huff and a puff over things without seeing them in the context of the overall picture.

I personally stopped buying fireworks for the home years ago, it would cost £100 of thereabouts and was money up in smoke! now if i want to see fireworks i go to the gurudwara sahib and enjoy them after the deevan has ended.

an answer to the question why do people only celebrate this gurpurb like this ... well why dont you celebrate the rest with candles and fireworks? Nobody is stopping anybody! Rather then stop celebrating one, wouldnt it make more sense to celebrate the rest as well?

Positive outlook will always get you further! :lol:

I hope i didnt offend you above, just trying to agree with your points but from a different perspective.

[rupinder singh]

my confused viewpoint on the whole sikh celebrating diwali seems to suggest that there is an odd protocol that we follow which we don't follow on other Gurpurbs. The fireworks, the giving of mithai, presents, divas, dressing up etc. Let's face it the MAJORITY of the community visit the Gurdwara for a quick mathatek and then it's round to the family & relatives house for some serious celebrating.

i see very little Gurbani or parchaar being recited on that day and fireworks override all the Gurdwaras activties for that day. in many cases the diwans become empty because everyones outside watching the firework display.

over the years i am more and more confused about the high priority given to the Diwali/bandi chor diwas celebrations by the sikh community. to the MAJORITY of the confused community Diwali becomes the biggest festival of the year for them. in my view it seems like a desparate attempt to be part of a "fun indian" celebration which we are taking too far.

It's also interesting to see how low key Gurpurb festivals really are in the Sikh community. I wouldnt be surprised if the Gurdwaras/communitys diwali celebrations are on a grander scale than the celebrations for Guru Nanak Devji's Gurpurb in a couple of weeks. Watch this space!

[Shaheed Singh Khalsa]

WaheguruJiKaKhalsa WaheguruJiKiFateh

Absolutely amazing post. To the Paaji who posted the article, please forward my sincere thanks to your friend who wrote this. Since about 10 years, I have not celebrated Diwali, mainly because it has not sat right with me and my understanding of Gurbani (also a bit of a gut instinct too) but this article helps me to consider some points that I didn't before.

Thanks again.

WaheguruJiKaKhalsa WaheguruJiKiFateh

[Harmeet Singh]

The post has very strong points indeed.

What we can clearly see is- there was no active participation of Gurus in celebrating Diwali. Gurus celebrated whole life not a DAY.

I don't see any spiritual significance of lighting up Darbar Sahib and Homes along with all the festivities including Mathaiya and other stuff. It can't be a Sikh concept. It more looks like a "Rangeen Tamasha" other than the point of Gurbani that asks for Soch and Vichaar

[Akaali]

bump