Sikhs

The Sikhs is a photographic study of the religious practices of contemporary Sikh people in Delhi and the Punjab region of northern India. Sixty-six photographs comprise the 'visual text' for this contribution to the Iconography of Religions series. They depict traditional sites and places of worship, major festivals, rites of the life cycle, symbols of Khalsa membership and artistic representations of great martyrs and the Sikh spiritual masters. The photographic subjects are documented in a catalogue of illustrations, and information needed to appreciate their historical background and current significance is provided in an introductory essay. The aim is to present, in terms acceptable to Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike, characteristic aspects of present-day Sikh religious life. This phenomenological approach is organized along patterns provided by Sikh concepts, and so far as possible it places emphasis on positive points of contact between proponents of Sikh faith and practitioners of modern critical scholarship.