Guru Nanak

This is the Mool Mantra, with which the Japji begins. The Japji appears at the very beginning of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Holy Book of the Sikhs. Composed by the founder of the Sikh faith, Guru Nanak Dev, the Japji is regarded as the most important set of verses by Sikhs, and is recited every morning by the faithful. This is in the Punjabi language, the text being in the Gurmukhi ("Guru's voice") script.The Guru Granth Sahib is revered as a living teacher.

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Here is a clip from the Hindi film Rang de Basanti, featuring the recitation of the Ek Onkar / Mool Mantra, in the environs of the Golden Temple in Amritsar.



Hear / download this recitation of Ek Onkar here, or here.

Guru Nanak and the emergence of Sikhism follow the Bhakti movement. The devotional songs tradition of the Bhakti movement may be seen to be distilled in the Sikh faith, with the holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, being a treasury of hymns, with its chapter titles being the names of different Ragas (melodies). Shabads and kirtans, i.e. devotional songs, are sung in gurudwaras (the Sikhs’ place of worship).

Here is the shabad Satguru Tumre Kaaj Savaare, sung by Bhai Ravinder Singh. I heard this sung at the Gurdwara Sisganj, in Delhi, in 1975, and have remembered it ever since. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I can now hear it again and again, and also share it with everyone!

"O True Teacher, your work adorns..."

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Download this shabad here.

And here is the kirtan Baba Nanak Dukhiyan De Nath Re sung by Kishanpal Singh, from the Hindi film Kohram. The lyrics are by Dev Kohli, and the music composed by Dilip Sen & Sameer Sen.

Baba Nanak is the Saviour of the suffering …

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Here’s a YouTube clip of the song.



Listen to shabads online (in Punjabi and Hindi) here and here. Songs in the Sindhi language, in praise of Nanak and Jhulelal can be heard online here.

Keertan.Org is an awesome source of Sikh devotional music, as is SikhSangeet.Com.