SIKHS MARK ANNIVERSARY OF 10TH GURU

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Sikhs mark anniversary of 10th guru

People were invited to share a meal with Sikh worshippers to celebrate the anniversary of the 10th guru.

The celebration took place at Guru Tegh Bahadur, in East Park Road, Spinney Hills, Leicester, on Sunday.

Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th guru, was founder of the order of the Khalsa, a baptism which formalises a promise to fight injustice.

Members of the public were invited to share food in the gurdwara, which provides between 10,000 and 20,000 free meals a week.

Raj Singh Mann said: "Under the order of the Khalsa, Sikhs are given a kind of uniform, called the five ks, including shorts, a kind of dagger and a steel bracelet.

"From this point, you are duty bound to fight injustice and the reason the guru gave us this duty is because if you walk away from trouble when someone needs your help, people will see a Sikh walking away from trouble.

"That is why Sikh people often jump in to help when someone is in trouble."

The anniversary took place earlier this month, in accordance with the lunar calendar, but prayers were said on Sunday in line with the Gregorian calendar.