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Mata Gujri Ji (1624 -1705) (whose formal name was ‘Mata Gujar Kaur’) was the wife of the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur; the mother of the tenth and last human Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh and the grandmother of the four Sahibzade.

She was born in 1624 and was the daughter of Bhai Lal Chand Subulikka and Bishan Kaur, a pious couple of Kartarpur, in present-day Kapurthala district of the Punjab. Her role in the development of the Sikh faith has been crucial.
She was the wife of a supreme martyr; mother of a brave saint-soldier; and the grand-mother of four amazing children who all attained martyrdom at the ages of 6, 9, 14 and 18 years. She had been close to the two younger sahibzade and took up their guardianship in the flight from Anandpur under a promise of safe passage to Punjab. Imprisoned in the Thanda Burj of Sirhind with her youngest grandsons Zorawar and Fateh Singh, she attained martyrdom, at the age of 81 years, when she was told of their execution.

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The handwritten manuscript which contains the Bani of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib Ji and bears the signature of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji remains stolen and untraced for nearly 13 years. The Gutka Sahib contained Chaupai Sahib in full form and shabads by the ninth Sikh Guru, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji.

The manuscript served as a great importance and preservation of authentic bani of Chaupai Sahib. The manuscript was stolen from the descendents of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib.

Read the following for further information, an article published in 2003 in the Tribune.

A granth having hand-written verses of the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Teg Bahadur, and Chaupai Sahib (holy hymns recited at the time of baptisation) written by the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, have been stolen from the house of descendants of Guru Teg Bahadur located in Anandpur Sahib.

Sources here said the scriptures were kept in an old building in Bari Sarha Mohalla of Anandpur Sahib owned by Narinder Kaur and her family who claim to be descendant of Baba Suraj Mal, son of Guru HarGobind Sahib Ji. Manji Sahib Gurdwara was also located in the same building. Devotees used to visit the building for paying obeisance to the scriptures of the Guru.

On Wednesday, a devotee came to the place to pay obeisance. He allegedly stole the scriptures after the family members left the place. The theft was noticed in the evening when family members came for evening rituals to the Gurdwara.

A complaint has been registered by the Anandpur Sahib police station regarding the theft of the scriptures. The DSP Anandpur Sahib, Mr Varinder Brar, said initial investigation revealed that the person who stole the scriptures belonged to the Ludhiana area and was between 50 and 55 years of age.

On the basis of the description provided by the family members, a sketch of the suspected thief was being prepared. The thief also left a blanket at the spot, he said.

Jathedar of Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib Giani Tarlochan Singh said the scriptures stolen from the gurdwara were authentic. The SGPC during the tercentenary celebrations had urged the family to hand over the scriptures. However, the family did not hand these over, maintaining that the scriptures were property of the Sodhi family. The Jathedar also visited the spot for surveying the family’s remaining possessions which were important historically.

The SGPC has deputed its flying squad to inquire into the theft of the holy scripture written by Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh from the house of descendent of Baba Suraj Mal in Anandpur Sahib, Mr Kirpal Singh Badungar, president of the SGPC, stated this after in a press note.

~ Source: DailySikhUpdate

Finally after about a week, images of the man who ransacked a Sikh Gurdwara in Spokane has surfaced.

The was arraigned in court and told the judge that he broke in to rob the Gurdwara Sahib but he caused severe damage after thinking it was a Muslim place of worship. He went onto say that he saw a religious text which he thought was the Quran and ended up ripping it out of anger.

The man is being charged with hate crime charges and burglary. The Sikh community have responded with a open house to spread awareness of the religion and invited locals to learn more about the faith.

Source- DailySikhUpdate

GURDWARA SHRI SHER SHIKAAR SAHIB, MACHKUND is situated in the Village Machkund, Distt Dholpur Rajasthan. While moving towards Gwalior, Emperor Jahangir with GURU SAHIB arrived at Machkund and stayed in Bhamtipura village. People of that area told Emperor about a deadly lion and requested him to save them from that lion. Jahangir had plans to kill SHRI GURU HARGOBIND SAHIB JI an though it to be right time do that, through that lion.

When the Emperor and GURU SAHIB along with soldiers reached this area in search of Lion, the lion attacked and soldiers. Jahangir and his soldiers were ready and started firing guns and arrows but in vein. The lion was very bold and kept quickly advancing towards the party. Seeing this, Jahangir was very scared and start screaming for help.

SHRI GURU HARGOBIND SAHIB JI came and stood between Jahangir and lion and said to lion “Ae kale yaman pehlan toon war kar lae kidre tere man di iccha baaki na reh jaye”. The lion attacked GURU SAHIB with his full force. GURU SAHIB put shield in front of lion and with his sword hit the lion on its back and killed him it with one motion. Jahangir then realized that the GURU SAHIB was not only powerful spirituality but also physically.

Harvard’s Divinity School has come up with their own solution to prevent this type of misunderstanding. Illiteracy and misunderstanding about the religions of others is something that spans has always caused wars, death and suffering for thousands of years but now Five leading professors at Harvard Divinity School and Wellesly College have teamed to create a free online course on world religions and give people an academic understanding about world religions.

The course includes six classes on different subjects that will each run for four weeks and Diane Moore, director of Harvard’s Divinity School is teaching the first course in the series on “Religious Literacy: Traditions and Scriptures,” which begins on March 1. Following her course there will be five more courses that will cover into specific faiths, including Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and Judaism.

“Religious literacy entails more than just knowing the Five Pillars of Islam or Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths,” Moore said to The Huffington Post. Such an approach “reinforces the problematic assumption that religions are internally uniform and ahistorical,” she added. Instead, Moore suggested that religious literacy should include an understanding that religious traditions are “internally diverse,” ever-evolving, and play complex roles in people’s lives.

50,000 people are expected to enroll for this course, and it will be free for anyone who wants to audit the course. Those who are interested in earning a certificate of achievement at the end of the series, will have to pay $50 for the non-audit track.

If you have never taken a class at Harvard before this is also a very great opportunity to say you have done it.This in our opinion is a great way to further one’s education, learn about the world and expand ones knowledge.

Please share this with as many people on social media, a free educational opportunity from Harvard that also promotes global understanding like this is something you don’t want to miss!

Source-medicinezine.com