Sikh Takht

Sikh Takht

News: The Delhi Assembly has passed an amendment Bill to the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1971, recognizing Takht Damdama Sahib as the fifth Takht of Sikhs.

What is a Sikh Takht?
• A Takht, which means a throne, is a seat of temporal authority for Sikhs.There are five Sikh Takhts, three in Punjab and one each in Maharashtra and Bihar.The Takhts are known to issue hukumnamas (morality orders) from time to time on issues that concern the Sikh community.
• Akal Takht is supreme among them because it is the oldest and was created by a Sikh Guru himself, say Sikh scholars.Any edict or order concerning the entire community is issued only from Akal Takht.
• It is from Akal Takht that Sikhs found to be violating the Sikh doctrine and code of conduct are awarded religious punishment (declared tankhaiya).The three Takhts in Punjab are directly controlled by the SGPC, which appoints the jathedars.The SGPC is dominated by SAD members.
• It is widely understood that SAD puts the final seal on the appointment of these three jathedars.
• The two Takhts outside Punjab have their own trusts and boards.

Akal Takht
• Located in Amritsar, it is the oldest of the Takhts, and considered supreme among the five.It was set up in 1606 by Guru Hargobind, whose succession as the sixth Guru after the execution of his father, Guru Arjan Dev, is considered a turning point in Sikh history.The Akal Takht, a raised platform that he built in front of the causeway leading to the sanctum sanctorum of the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple).
• It symbolised the coming together of the temporal authority and the political sovereignty of the Sikh community (miri) with the spiritual authority (piri).It is seen as the first marker of Sikh nationalism.
• The other four Takhts are linked to Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru. Takht Keshgarh Sahib
• Located in Anandpur Sahib in Punjab. It was here that Guru Gobind Singh raised Khalsa, the initiated Sikh warriors, in 1699.

Takht Patna Sahib
• Guru Gobind Singh was born here in 1666.

Takht Hazur Sahib
• In Nanded, where Guru Gobin Singh spent time and where he was cremated in 1708.

Takht Damdama Sahib
• In Talwandi Sabo of Bathinda. Guru Gobind Singh spent several months here.

Latest amendment:
• Simply put, it adds one more ex officio member in the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Managament Committee (DSGMC) house.Earlier, there were four ex officio members in the house — the chiefs (jathedars) of the other four Is it the first time it has been recognised as the fifth Takht?
• It was back in 1999 that Takht Damdama Sahib was recognised as the fifth Sikh Takht by the Union Home Ministry.It included it as such in the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 (Punjab Act VIII of 1925) with a notification dated April 23, 1999.Before that, an SGPC sub-committee had declared it the fifth Takht of Sikhs back in November 1966 after Punjab was carved out as a separate state through the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966.
• It comes ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections, where the, Delhi’s ruling party, has high stakes.