Made by Ina Huang

1. Made by Ina Huang How do the Sikhs practice their religion? How do the Sikhs practice their religion? The aim of Sikhism is to give praise to God. There are many ways of worship and they are different from how other religions practice. One of the ways Sikhs practice their religion is to go to a “Gurdwara”. The Gurdwaras are open from dawn to sunset. When people enter the Gurdwara, they have to take their shoes off and they must cover their hair to show respect. For all Gurdwaras, each session may last for about 5 hours. Most of the Sikhs do not have a particular day of worship. Some pray almost everyday, but it is an individual choice whether or not people want to pray everyday. All Sikhs must speak in Punjabi when they are saying their prayer. During each prayer/ session, people would read and sing Shabads. The Guru would read the “Guru Granth Sahib” at the beginning of each session. All temples would include “Guru Granth Sahib”.. The Sikhs also believe in the 5 k’s . After a Sikh is baptized, he/ she must wear the 5 k’s; Kesh, Kangha, Kirpan, Kara, and Kachhehra. Kesh means that they must not have any of their hair cut. Kangha is a small wooden comb that is to be always kept with them. Kirpan is a short sword that is also kept with them. Kara is a plain steel bracelet that a baptized Sikh must wear. Kachhehra are shorts, worn as underwear. Sikh people celebrate many different holidays. One of the holidays that they celebrate is called Baisakhi. It is a spring festival that takes place on April 14th. Another holiday that the Sikhs celebrate would be a festival called Gurpurb. The point of Gurpurb is to celebrate the birth and death of each Guru. There is two more festival that the Sikhs celebrate. They are Diwali and Holy Mchalla. Diwali is the festival of light that takes place on Nov. 7th and Holy Mchalla takes place on March 17th.