Guru Amar Das - His Life

His Life

Guru Amar Das was the eldest son of Sri Tej Bhan Bhalla, a farmer and trader, and Mata Lachmi .The Guru's father was a shopkeeper in the village of Basarke near Amritsar.

GuruJi married Mata Mansa Devi and had 4 children – 2 sons (Mohan & Mohri ) and 2 daughters (Bibi Bhani & Bibi Dani ). Bibi Bhani later married Bhai Jetha who became the fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das. (See article Platforms of Jetha.)

Guru Amar Das became Sikh Guru at the age of 72 following in the footsteps of his teacher Sri Guru Angad Dev Sahib, who left the world on 29 March 1552 at age 48. Guru Amar Das established his headquarters in the town of Goindwal Sahib, which was established by Sri Guru Angad Dev.

Guru Amar Das took up cudgels of spirituality to fight against caste restrictions, caste prejudices and the curse of untouchability.

He strengthened the tradition of the free kitchen, Guru Ka Langar (started by Guru Nanak), and made his disciples, whether rich or poor, whether high born or low born (according to the Hindu caste system), have their meals together sitting in one place.

He thus established social equality amongst the people. Guru Amar Das introduced the Anand Karaj marriage ceremony for the Sikhs, replacing the Hindu form.

He also completely abolished amongst the Sikhs, the custom of Sati, in which a married woman was forced to burn herself to death in the funeral pyre of her husband. The custom of Paradah (Purda), in which a woman was required to cover her face with a veil, was also done away with.