DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0186
174 The Sikh Sect.
in Arabia—not only teacher and spiritual pastor, but master,
military leader, and king. Finally, when he had ceased to
act as a military leader, he was regarded as an all-powerful
mediator between God and man, and even as an actual god to
whom prayers were to be addressed as to the Supreme Being
Himself.
Before concluding this sketch of one of the most interest-
ing religious movements that has ever taken place in India,
I ought to state that I visited the tombs of Ranjit Sinh and
Guru Arjun at Lahore, the birth-place of Govind at Patna,
and the sacred metropolis or Jerusalem of Sikhism at
Amritsar.
I noticed that the mausoleum which contains the ashes of
Ranjit Sinh at Lahore had idols of the Hindu gods Ganesa
and Brahma over the entrance. Inside, resting on a small
elevated platform, was the sacred Granth, and all around
were eleven small tombs, mere mounds of earth, under which
are preserved the ashes of Ranjit's eleven wives, who became
Satis at his death.
It may be worth while here to mention that it is against
the practice of the Hindus to preserve the remains of their
deceased relatives in tombs. The body is burnt, and, how-
ever illustrious the man may have been, the ashes are scat-
tered on sacred rivers. The Sikh leaders were, like the
Muhammadans, ambitious of perpetuating their own memo-
ries after death. They continued the Hindu practice of
burning their dead, but, like the Muslims, spent larger sums
in erecting magnificent tombs for the reception of their own
ashes than in building palaces for their own ease and self-
indulgence during life.
The temple dedicated to the tenth Guru Govind, at Patna,
was rebuilt by Ranjit Sinh about forty years ago. I found it,
after some trouble, in a side street, hidden from view and
approached by a gateway, over which were the images of the
first nine Gurus, with Nanak in the centre. The shrine is
in Arabia—not only teacher and spiritual pastor, but master,
military leader, and king. Finally, when he had ceased to
act as a military leader, he was regarded as an all-powerful
mediator between God and man, and even as an actual god to
whom prayers were to be addressed as to the Supreme Being
Himself.
Before concluding this sketch of one of the most interest-
ing religious movements that has ever taken place in India,
I ought to state that I visited the tombs of Ranjit Sinh and
Guru Arjun at Lahore, the birth-place of Govind at Patna,
and the sacred metropolis or Jerusalem of Sikhism at
Amritsar.
I noticed that the mausoleum which contains the ashes of
Ranjit Sinh at Lahore had idols of the Hindu gods Ganesa
and Brahma over the entrance. Inside, resting on a small
elevated platform, was the sacred Granth, and all around
were eleven small tombs, mere mounds of earth, under which
are preserved the ashes of Ranjit's eleven wives, who became
Satis at his death.
It may be worth while here to mention that it is against
the practice of the Hindus to preserve the remains of their
deceased relatives in tombs. The body is burnt, and, how-
ever illustrious the man may have been, the ashes are scat-
tered on sacred rivers. The Sikh leaders were, like the
Muhammadans, ambitious of perpetuating their own memo-
ries after death. They continued the Hindu practice of
burning their dead, but, like the Muslims, spent larger sums
in erecting magnificent tombs for the reception of their own
ashes than in building palaces for their own ease and self-
indulgence during life.
The temple dedicated to the tenth Guru Govind, at Patna,
was rebuilt by Ranjit Sinh about forty years ago. I found it,
after some trouble, in a side street, hidden from view and
approached by a gateway, over which were the images of the
first nine Gurus, with Nanak in the centre. The shrine is