The Multifarious Faces of Sikhism
throughout Sikh History
Page 4 of 4
Sanatan
Singh Sabhias cont'd
Hew Mcleod spoke of the Sanatan Sikh world
thus:
‘The Sikhism
preached by the people such as Khem Singh
Bedi and Avatar Singh Vahiria is difficult
to envisage today, so comprehensive has
been their defeat by the Tat Khalsa.
For them Sikhism tolerated variety and upheld
the right of Sikhs to participate in folk
religion. Caste was maintained and
idol worship was tolerated. There
were different forms of marriage for different
castes and different rituals could be practised
by various members of the Panth. All
manners of customs, such as those involving
astrology, horoscopes and incantation, were
acceptable. Visits to the sacred
shrines of Hindus and Muslims as well as
those of the Guru’s were entirely
approved. Sanatan leaders might not follow
these customs themselves, but certainly
they were prepared to tolerate them in others.
They were part of the immense variety
which characterized the world they had known
and the world they hoped would continue.
All this was anathema to the Tat Khalsa.
Sikhism could not possibly be as
broad and as tolerant as Sanatan Sikhs believed.’
‘Sikhism’,
by Hew McLeod, 1997, Pa. 77
Baba Khem Singh Bedi of Kullar
Photographed by Lafayette Ltd of Bond Street,
London in 1902,
The Sanatan Singh Sabha that established itself
at Amritsar sought to maintain this ‘Boh
Panthi’ traditional Sikh world
from the onslaught of the Christians. In time,
the Sanatan Singh Sabha would be challenged
by the spiritually inept and corrupt Tat Khalsa
Singh Sabhias.
Amritsar
Painting of Durbar Sahib by WIlliam Carpenter,
circa mid 19th century
