Kamalroop Singh | The University of Birmingham (original) (raw)

Papers by Kamalroop Singh

Book Review of publication by Gurinder Singh Mann and Kamalroop Singh

The Guru’s warrior scripture by Kamalroop Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann Written for the Oxford Un... more The Guru’s warrior scripture by Kamalroop Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann
Written for the Oxford University Press India blog.
The scripture known as the Dasam Granth Sahib or the ‘Scripture of the Tenth King,’ has traditionally been attributed to Guru Gobind Singh. It was composed in a volatile period to inspire the Sikh warriors in the battle against the Moghuls, and many of the compositions were written for the rituals related to the preparation for war (Shastra puja) and for the battlefield.

http://blog.oup.com/2016/01/gurus-warrior-scripture/

Oxford Handbooks Online, 2014

The Paiṅtīs Akharī is an acrostic bani about the Gurmukhi alphabet said to be by Guru Nanak Dev J... more The Paiṅtīs Akharī is an acrostic bani about the Gurmukhi alphabet said to be by Guru Nanak Dev Ji. It is apocryphal as it is not in the Adi Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. The Guru describes the experience or attributes of Ik Oaṅkār with each letter, or the non-divisible advait Vahiguru, which is the ecstatic experience of non-duality. The state of enlightenment or Nirvana is described, where the term turia is employed by Guru, he states that in actual fact there is no difference between the soul and the Super-soul, like water that merges back into water.
The cover shows the Thirty-Five letters of the Gurmukhi Alphabet written by Guru Arjan Dev Ji, and the Muhārnī, which is a special way to learn all the sounds in Gurbani. By the Guru writing the letters at the top and alongside his Gurbani we can safely conclude that Gurmukhi script itself is considered holy and is a spiritual language. G. B. Singh (1950) concluded that it was more ancient than even Sanskrit (which has Fifty-Two letters), and provided detailed impressions of ancient rock carvings of glyphs to prove it (See the table below). According to Prof Anurag Singh and the late Giani Sant Singh Maskeen some of them are also found in Turkmenistan. G. B. Singh has proved that development of all languages began with Runes and Hieroglyphics, which is a fascinating angle on the history of Gurmukhi. In the tradition it is said each sound resonates from a certain chakra, and is said to purify them (see the diagram by Sant Sher Singh on the next page). Each letter and word must be perfected via special methods in order to perfect the banis, this is known as santhiā.

The hagiographies of Guru Nanak Dev Ji such as the Srī Gur Nānak Parkāsh Graṅth, and other older ... more The hagiographies of Guru Nanak Dev Ji such as the Srī Gur Nānak Parkāsh Graṅth, and other older Janamsākhiā, narrate that the Nasīhatanāmā was said in a conversation between the King of Misar or Rum (regions around Egypt and Turkey), who was a cruel tyrant, and Guru Nanak Dev Ji. It is a letter of advice from Guru Nanak to the Emperor or the King named as Hamid Karun. He is advised by the Guru to do good deeds and be kind as God has bestowed wealth on him. Money should be spent on good causes, and that money belongs to him who spends it. The world is transient, only the True God is eternal, therefore no one should feel proud of his possessions as we are all bound to perish, and one should remember the name of God (nām). You can listen to this bani here: https://soundcloud.com/kamalroop-singh/nasihatnama-by-guru-nanak-dev-ji

Journal of Religion and Violence, 2014

http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199458974.do First translations of apocryphal texts of th... more http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199458974.do

First translations of apocryphal texts of the Dasam Granth
Focuses on the Sikh manuscript tradition, the relics of Guru Gobind Singh and their relationship with Sikh scripture
Brings to light the traditional practices of Sikh Sampradayas like the Akali Nihangs. Carries rare images of the Dasam Granth.

In the Granth of Guru Gobind Singh, the authors offer new insights into the Sikh scripture Dasam Patshah Ka Granth, or the Dasam Granth, which has traditionally been attributed to Guru Gobind Singh.

While many studies have adopted a polemic approach and focused on the authorship of the text, this book takes a multi-disciplinary approach and considers the relationship of the scripture with the newly discovered manuscripts, apocryphal translations, and relics.

The manuscript tradition of the Granth shows how it was written and compiled during Guru Gobind Singh's time and how its compositions were transmitted through material items such as swords. The authors have included in this volume translations of selected compositions from the scripture.

This book, in essence, takes the reader through relevant history of the Sikh dharam and establishes the centrality of the Dasam Granth within it.

Readership: This book will be of considerable interest to scholars and students of religious studies, history of the sikhs, and social and cultural studies.

An Oxford University study has found that an increasing number of Indian women in the UK are abor... more An Oxford University study has found that an increasing number of Indian women in the UK are aborting their female foetuses in order to have more boys. Research has found that over 1500 girls have 'gone missing' from birth statistics in England and Wales since the 1990s. Dr. Sylvie Dubuc from Oxford University has found that the proportion of boys over girls has increased abnormally over time. This abnormal growth has been described as a result of 'Sex Selective Abortion'. This is only preliminary research and health experts consider the problem to be much larger. The reasons for aborting female foetuses are varied. For example, some families still follow the dowry system, others favour males to carry on the family name, while others see women as inferior. My paper will explore what the Sikh tradition has said about this practice, in particular the rahitnāme from around the eighteenth century.
Health authorities in the UK refuse to tell the sex of an unborn child and also refuse to carry out such abortions, hence many British Indian women being forced to travel to India to get such procedures carried out. The lack of awareness that this is happening in the UK is a very large contributing factor.
In this paper I will also launch a film that I jointly produced for the Punjab Cultural Association on the subject of female foeticide. I would like my talk to be a platform where interested parties can brainstorm ideas about how to tackle this issue. I would also be most grateful if you could allow other speakers to talk on the subject.

Young Sikhs in a Global World, June 18-19, 2013 at Lund University, Sweden For some Sikh Youth t... more Young Sikhs in a Global World, June 18-19, 2013 at Lund University, Sweden

For some Sikh Youth the tragedy on 9/11 was a turning point in how the turban was viewed by the general public and media. They were certain that the public and media considered the turban to have connotations with religious extremism. A number of leaders even went onto various channels to educate people about the distinctiveness of the Sikh dastar. For initiated Khalsa Sikhs they are required to wear a turban as a religious obligation. As a result of this perception some turbaned-Sikhs have been victims of racial violence and had their identity challenged by calls to assimilate into Western societies. A number of Sikhs and Gurdware were then attacked, resulting in a number of deaths. Sadly, the hate crimes culminated in the Wisconsin shootings, which was again a case of mistaken identity. The various Sikh channels, websites, all had a frenzy of activity at these various times, with lengthy discussions about how to tackle this issue ‒ many going into deep discussion about the ins and outs of Sikh theology and codes of discipline known as rahitnāme.

This paper seeks to address how the youth in this situation consolidated their identity within the wider communities they live in. For some Sikh youth it reinforced their identity, while for others they sought to make the image softer and modern. In many instances they re-negotiated and reinterpreted what it meant to wear a turban, and attempted to bridge the old with the new.

Sri Dasam Granth Sahib: questions and answers Gurinder Singh Mann & Kamalroop Singh, Archimedes ... more Sri Dasam Granth Sahib: questions and answers

Gurinder Singh Mann & Kamalroop Singh, Archimedes Press, 2011100 pp., £8.99, ISBN 978-0-9568435-0-0

In Sri Dasam Granth Sahib: questions and answers, the authors Gurinder Singh Mann and Kamalroop Singh seek to redress recent debates about not only the importance and relevancy of the Sri Dasam Granth Sahib (SDGS) for the Sikh tradition, but they also entertain questions regarding its authenticity, authorship, as well as the historical and contemporary position of this text for Sikh thought. The perspective of the book is scholarly and grass roots, as both authors have spent time as active members of the Sikh community as well as having pursued scholarly research of the SDGS at the postgraduate level. This volume appears to be released as a needed intervention into the current controversy surrounding the SDGS as well as a brief installment along the way to a larger, more comprehensive work discussing the SDGS. With a view to describing some of the less well-understood intricacies of the SDGS, it is a welcome addition to the limited number of English language volumes discussing the SDGS.

The following translation of the Srī Bhagautī Astotra is from the forthcoming publication Dasam G... more The following translation of the Srī Bhagautī Astotra is from the forthcoming publication Dasam Granth Sahib, Essays, Lectures, and Translations, Oxford University Press, India. This forthcoming publication is by two scholars of Sikh
Studies, Kamalroop Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann, and includes new and exciting areas of study. The history and discussion of the vīr rasī Srī Bhagautī Astotra or heroic ‘Panegyric to the Divine-Sword’ is included within this forthcoming title. It includes the history and translations of the apocrypha from extant manuscripts of the Dasam Granth Sahib, the discussion of previously unknown manuscripts from 1695–1698 AD, a study of the rituals and maryādā of the Graṅth of Guru Gobind Singh. The tradition of the Dasam Granth Sahib
within the Sampradāvāṅ, e.g. Akālī Nihaṅg Singh Khālsā (Buḍḍhā Dal) and the changes made by the ‘Tat Khalsa’ Singh Sabha to the original praxis of the Srī Akāl Takht Sāhib and Srī Keshgaṛh Sāhib.

The Mul Mantra of the Khalsa - The first ever English translation. Written in the Court of the Te... more The Mul Mantra of the Khalsa - The first ever English translation. Written in the Court of the Tenth Guru about the first Khalsa initiation.

The Hanuman Natak was very popular in traditional Sikhi. The whole text has been made available f... more The Hanuman Natak was very popular in traditional Sikhi. The whole text has been made available for the first time, with a foreward explaining its importance pre-Singh Sabha reform.

A translation and discussion of the Arati. It involves looking at the reform version of the Singh... more A translation and discussion of the Arati. It involves looking at the reform version of the Singh Sabha versus the traditional orthodox version.

In this short essay I present the traditional Sikh view about the Sikh liturgy known as the 'Nitn... more In this short essay I present the traditional Sikh view about the Sikh liturgy known as the 'Nitnem'.

Books by Kamalroop Singh