Sikhism And Digambara | EssayIvy.com

Running Head: SIKHISM AND DIGAMBARA 1

Sikhism and Digambara

Student’s Name:

Institution

Date:

SIKHISM AND DIGAMBARA 2

Sikhism and Digambara

Introduction

Religion defines the people's way of life as demonstrated through worship.

Nevertheless, the religious orientation affects the culture of the people

because religion serves as the way of life in the society. Therefore, religion

and culture signify a great relatedness based on their interaction with the

mode of dressing. It is imperative to note too that, the dressing is

synonymous with culture and religion because different religious groups have

different but distinct ways of dressing. As a matter of fact, dressing in both

culture and religious settings serves as the means of gender differentiation.

Nevertheless, it is important to discourage religious bias with reference to the

dressing because each religion has a definite meaning attached to their mode

of dressing.

I chose Digambara and Sikhism because of their relationships. First of all,

both of them originate from the Indian culture. Digambara is also known as

the Jainism (Singh, 2014). Therefore, the comparison of the two religions is

simplified by common origin which depicts similar cultural orientation which

is paramount in understanding religion. Nevertheless, the two religions

signify marked cultural differences in their way of worship where the

Sikhism majorly use white attires while the Digambara prefer nudity which is

SIKHISM AND DIGAMBARA 3

line with their religious beliefs. On the other hand, Sikhism is characterized

majorly by white religious attires which signify purity and holiness.

Second Section

There is a marked uniqueness of dressing and attire between the Followers of

Sikhism and Dgambara.To begin with Sikhism there are different types of

attires a demonstrated in different religious setups. One such attire is the

Bana which is religious attire which is major worn by the traditional religious

Sikhs. The attire is majorly worn during the spiritual rituals particularly the

gurdwara which is a spiritual ritual conducted during holidays and during

other important religious festivals. Nevertheless, one can wear Bana on a

normal day if one wishing so. A Chola is religious attire won in the Sikhism

religion. The attire is majorly the type of Bana but which is purposefully

preserved for the warriors. It is composed of a free skirt like material to allow

for the freedom of movement. The attire has a religious significance because

an ancient religious leader by the Guru Har Rai is believed to have won A

Chola with combined colors on a daily basis due to his mastery of religious

dressing.

Moreover, Sikhism signifies multiple dressing attires and it includes hajoori

or in other words known as hazoori. The hajoori is majorly performing attire

which is mostly won by gurdwara festivals. The people who are specialized

to wear hajoori are known as Katha and are the dignified performers during

SIKHISM AND DIGAMBARA 4

gurdwara festivals. Furthermore, the hajoori attire is won by a group known

as Nihang warriors who are a special group of warriors among the followers

of Sikh religion. Hajoori has multiple purposes and it is also won by the

Singhs which is the group that is mandated to sing kirtan during different

religious rituals and worship sessions. Furthermore, the religious leaders are

expected to wear hajoori devotional services and particularly when they are

assigned to read Sikh devotionals.

It is paramount to underscore that Sikhism does not allow entry of the

worship gurdwara worship halls with the normal footwear nevertheless; there

is a special type of footwear that Sikhism allows to enter into worship halls

with which are known as jutti slippers. The slippers are identified and may be

difficult at times to understand which one belongs to the left and which one

belongs to the right as well. For this reason, the worshippers are emphasized

to war them continually the feet gets accustomed to them.

Daastar refers to a collection of articles of faith among the Sikh which are

won for identity reason. Daastar is forms what is known as five articles of

faith in the Sikhism religion (Jacobsen, Aktor, & Myrvold, 2014). The five

articles include of faith which include kesh which particularly the unshorn

hair for ladies, kanga which is a small comb carrying during religious

ceremonies and used for identification even in normal occasions, Kara which

is a still bracelet and used majorly worn for identification purposes by the

SIKHISM AND DIGAMBARA 5

Sikh leaders, another article is known as Kiran which is a religious article

resembling a knife signifying the mighty and power of the Sikh The last

religious article is known as kachera which signified the shorts of soldiers

hence signifying full spiritual preparation of the Sikh soldiers.

Third Section

The Sikhism and Digambara signify great similarities and difference as

captured in the introductory paragraph, first of all, nudity is significant

among the followers of Digambara because they believe that the name of

their religion means being dressed in the quarters of the sky (Long,

(2013).Therefore, Digambaras believe that the outward dressing is

meaningless because they are supernaturally clothed hence rendering the

outward dressing meaningless (Long, 2011). Therefore, the outward

appearance according to the Digambara is a basic indication of an individual

who has understood their faith because there is no need of hiding the external

appearance when one is promised a supernatural dressing. However, the

Sikhism believe that nudity is evil and that a religious person should observe

descent dressing in order to serve a good example to others in the

community. The monks among the Digambaras must observe total nudity

because it is believed that the original monks who constructed Digambara

were naked. Nevertheless, the monks in schism should observe descent

dressing, especially in white punjabs and turbans to which is a good

SIKHISM AND DIGAMBARA 6

representation of religion. According to the Digambara, the monks and the

nuns should not out on air because that will be against the doctrine of nudity

because hair will demand careful treatment and dressing hence taking the

quality time that would be used in organizing and conducting religious

rituals. However, Sikhs believe that long hair is divine and therefore the

existence of long hair among the monks and nun in the Sikh religion signify

greatness for men and humility for women.

Although nudity in the public places is prohibited for nun among the

Digambaras due to social nuisance, Sikh also permits nudity for nuns known

as yogis (Jacobsen, Aktor, & Myrvold, 2014). As a matter of fact,

Digambaras believe the original monks developed the doctrine of nudity

owning to the supernatural dressing at the quarters of the sky. While Sikh

maintains that nudity is evil and should not be entertained in public and in

places of worship.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is evident that religious practices and believes that an

individual adopts depends on their upbringing. Moreover, no one religion is

better than the other because each is based on the ideologies of its

perpetrators. Therefore, the students should advocate for religious tolerance

while educating one another on the basis of cultural development. The culture

of the people evolves; their religious beliefs evolve as well leaving seeming

SIKHISM AND DIGAMBARA 7

retrogressive and misleading beliefs. For instance, the doctrine of nudity

observed by the Digambaras is attributed to the historical inheritance of the

religious believes as development by the original monks of Digambara.

Nevertheless, in course of advocating for religious tolerance, social injustices

that may be advocated by such religion should be shunned sternly.

SIKHISM AND DIGAMBARA 8

References

Jacobsen, K. A., Aktor, M., & Myrvold, K. (Eds.). (2014). Objects of

Worship in South Asian Religions: Forms, Practices and Meanings.

Routledge.

Long, J. D. (2013). The Dharma Paradigm and ethos some insights from

Jainism and Vedānta. International Journal of Dharma Studies, 1(1),

Long, Jeffrey (2011). Jainism: Key Themes. Religion Compass 5/9 501-510

Religions - Jainism: Monks, nuns and temple worship. (2009, September 14).

Retrieved February 11,2018,

from:http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/jainism/worship/ministr

y.shtml

Singh, B. (2014). The Five Symbols Of Sikhism: Some contemporary issues.

Sikh Formations, 10(1), 105-172.

Place new order. It's free, fast and safe

Paper type

Deadline

Page count

550 words

Total price: $ 15.00

Our customers say

Jeff Curtis

USA, Student

"I'm fully satisfied with the essay I've just received. When I read it, I felt like it was exactly what I wanted to say, but couldn’t find the necessary words. Thank you!"

Ian McGregor

UK, Student

"I don’t know what I would do without your assistance! With your help, I met my deadline just in time and the work was very professional. I will be back in several days with another assignment!"

Shannon Williams

Canada, Student

"It was the perfect experience! I enjoyed working with my writer, he delivered my work on time and followed all the guidelines about the referencing and contents."