Hide and Sikh Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1469

Guru Nanak was born in what is now Pakistan, but in 1469, the area was part of India. His birthday is celebrated by Sikhs on April 14th by the Nanakshahi calendar, or in October or November using a lunar calendar. Nanak demonstrated an interest in spirituality from a young age.

He questioned religious teachings and rebelled against convention. He also showed a high level of skill in poetry.

Answer: Hinduism and Islam

Nanak came from a family of Hindus, but took issue with some of its teachings, particularly concerning the caste system. He studied the religion in detail, but also learned about Islam, another popular religion in the area. Sikhism has its roots in those two religions, but Nanak was a philosopher and spiritual thinker in his own right.

He introduced unique ideas and practices that are not found in Hinduism or Islam.

Answer: Accountancy

Nanak's father was an accountant. He was worried that Nanak was too much of a thinker and didn't focus enough attention on worldly things like earning money and raising a family. Nanak felt the opposite. He spent a lot of time meditating and creating poetry. For a short time, he followed his father's footsteps and became an accountant. Nanak, however, had a more spiritual calling.

Nanak argued with religious leaders (both Muslim and Hindu). He believed that external things like penances and pilgrimages were less important than the changes in a person's soul.

Answer: He did not resurface and was presumed to have drowned.

As was custom, Nanak undressed to bathe in a river one day. He went under the water, but did not come back up. Villagers looked for him, but could find no sign of him alive or dead. It was presumed that he had drowned. Three days later, he reappeared at the same place he had disappeared from. He claimed that he had had a revelation from God and set off on a new chapter of his life.

Answer: "There is no Hindu and no Muslim."

After Nanak had returned to the river he had disappeared from, people asked him where he had been. He replied by saying that he had been with God. He also said, "There is no Hindu and no Muslim." The teaching has been interpreted in different ways. Some thinkers argue that the religious people of the day had forgotten the roots of their respective faiths and were just going through the motions.

Others argue that the phrase has a different meaning. There is no Hindu and no Muslim because they are all people created by the same God: the labels attached to them are irrelevant.

Answer: Teacher

'Guru' comes from a Sanskrit word meaning 'teacher' and the word 'Sikh' means disciple. 'Guru' was used in Hinduism to refer to religious and spiritual teachers. As Sikhism has some roots in Hinduism, the word is also used to refer to the first ten leaders and developers of the religion. Guru Nanak was the first and Guru Gobind Singh was the tenth and final one (he died in 1708).

The Sikh holy scripture is also considered to be an everlasting teacher, so it is called the Guru Granth Sahib.

Answer: Yes

Nanak was married to Mata Sulakhni ji at the age of 18. Nanak's father thought that getting married might help the young man to focus more on real-world things, but it didn't turn out that way. Unlike some spiritual thinkers, Nanak didn't believe that getting married negatively affected an individual's spiritual journey. He also had two sons with Mata.

Answer: Tibet

After his revelation from God, Guru Nanak travelled far and wide. He spent time teaching his own philosophies, but also learning from other religious and spiritual leaders. He spent almost 30 years studying and debating with others. He travelled throughout India, but he didn't stop there. He also ventured into Arabia and Tibet, though the credibility of these stories has been questioned.

Answer: He was 70 years old.

Guru Nanak lived to the ripe old age of 70, which was impressive for a 16th century man! He died in 1539, but as he was coming to the end of his life, his followers were unsure what to do with his body. His Hindu followers wanted to cremate him, but his Muslim followers wanted to bury him.

They couldn't come to an amicable consensus on what to do. When Nanak died, his followers laid flowers around him. When they returned the next morning, the body was gone and fresh flowers were lying on the ground in his place.

Answer: Janamsakhis

The "Janamsakhis" are biographies about Guru Nanak's early life. They are some of the oldest accounts of his life and were compiled some time after his death. The credibility of the accounts is sometimes questioned: some of the stories contain miracles and supernatural events; some overlap or contradict each other, possibly due to the fact that the accounts were written after Guru Nanak's death.