Sikhs celebrate the birth of a child through a naming ceremony called Naam Karan . This is a special ceremony that happens at the gurdwara around two weeks after the birth of the child.
Prayer is the first action of Sikh women when they find out that they are pregnant. When the baby is born, the words of the Mool Mantar (a key prayer, composed by Guru Nanak) are whispered into the ears of the child and a drop of honey is placed inside the mouth.
A child is seen as a gift from God and therefore should be nurtured from conception.
The family offers donations, Karah Parshad and a Rumala, which is a covering for Guru Granth Sahib, made of high quality silk, cotton or embroidered cloth. Prayers are offered asking for a special blessing of good health, long life and the Sikh way of life, Gursikhi for the child.
Sikhs have no objection to birth control. Whether or not Sikhs use contraception, and the form of contraception used, is a matter for the couple concerned.
Hindus are allowed to use a condom for contraceptive purposes as well as for protection against transmission of HIV/AIDS. Also Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism have made theirs this principle.
Some Sikhs are vegetarian. The religion allows individual choice about meat consumption. However, it is forbidden to eat meat from animals slaughtered according to religious guidelines, and therefore Sikhs do not eat halal or kosher meat. Sikhs do not consume alcohol.
His views on the issue resonate with those aired by the head priest of the Akal Takht in Amritsar, Giani Gurbachan Singh, sometime back. At an event organiszed at Sri Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, the head priest of the Akal Takht had advised Sikhs to have four children.
Initiated Sikhs are required to carry/maintain at all times: kesh (unshorn hair covered by a turban), kara (steel bracelet), kanga (small wooden comb), kacchera (undershorts), and a kirpan (resembles a knife/sword).
The Five K's are the markers of Sikh identity, and they consist of: uncut hair, a short sword or knife, a steel wristband, a wooden comb, and shorts worn as an undergarment. The observance of the Five K's was originally the mark of the Khalsa.
Young boys will wear a patka or a handkerchief since they're easy to tie and can stand up to some roughhousing. Sikh men will also often wear a patka when playing sports. There's actually a ceremony in which we celebrate when a child ties their first full turban.
Sikh Turbans
A very important and exciting event in the life of a Sikh boy is when he starts tying the turban. In a Sikh family this ceremony is held normally when the boy is between 11 to 16 years old. It is usually held in a Gurudwara before the Guru Granth Sahib and following Ardas. It is called Dastar Bandi.
Doli. Doli is traditionally a wooden palanquin used to carry women around on their travels. The Doli celebration marks the bride's final departure from her paternal home. The bride throws rice grains over her shoulders and into her mother's outstretched hands, wishing her parent's eternal prosperity.
What happens during the ceremony? The family and friends of the new baby go to the Gurdwara. The Guru then opens the Guru Granth Sahib at random. The first letter of the first word on that page is chosen to be the first letter of the child's name.
Rima explained, that though in Sikh families there is no ritual or ceremony like baby shower, they held one because she belongs to a South Indian family.
Sat Sri Akaal (Gurumukhi ਸਤਿ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ, pronounced [sət sɾiː əkɑːl] ( listen)) is a Jaikara (lit. Call of Victory) now used, often, as a greeting by Punjabi Sikhs.
These five thieves are kaam (lust), krodh (wrath), lobh (greed), moh (attachment) and ahankar (ego or excessive pride).
The Sikh religion forbids the use of alcohol and other intoxicants. Sikhs are also not allowed eat meat - the principle is to keep the body pure. All gurdwaras are supposed to follow the Sikh code, known as the Akal Takht Sandesh, which comes from the highest Sikh authority in India.
Marrying people of other faiths is acceptable, they say, but conducting that marriage in a Sikh temple is not. Non-Sikhs can only be involved if they accept the Sikh faith and change their name to include Singh or Kaur, the council insists.
In Sikhism, there is no place for polygamy and polyandry. Sikh Gurus advocated the institution of monogamous marriage. Marriage in Sikhism is not a social contract.
In addition, Sikhs place a high value on family life and having children. As a result, both sex before and outside of marriage are forbidden, because sex is strictly for creating a family.
The SGPC has warned those who plan to get a tattoo of Sikh religious symbols or Gurbani verses on any part of their body. Akal Takht has already put a blanket ban on Sikh religious tattooing and pronounced an edict in June.
Drinking alcohol is often associated with the Punjabi culture, but is prohibited in Sikhism. Baptised Sikhs are forbidden from drinking but some non-baptised Sikhs do consume alcohol. Whilst the vast majority of those who do drink have no problem, a small number of Punjabi Sikh women are affected.
Sikhs also generally avoid eating beef because the cow, the buffalo and the ox are an integral part of rural Sikh livelihoods. Similarly, they avoid eating pork when they are in the company of Muslims. However, there is no religious prohibition about eating beef and pork.