Nanaksar, which literally means Guru Nanak's pool and metaphorically refers to the pool of the Guru's divine wisdom, grabbed the headlines twice during the ongoing farm agitation.
Baba Ram Singh, over the contentious farm laws, belonged to the Nanaksar Movement and so does Baba Lakha Singh, who met agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday.
Originally from Jagraon in Punjab, Baba Ram Singh was based in Haryana's Karnal. Baba Lakha Singh, aged around 60, comes from Jagraon, the headquarters of the Nanaksar Movement.
WHAT IS NANAKSAR MOVEMENT?
Nanaksar gurdwaras — called thaats — are spread across the country and overseas, but not all of them are necessarily controlled by the main Jagraon centre. Many operate in close cooperation though.
The guiding principles of Nanaksar shrines are traced to Baba Nand Singh (1870/72-1943), who founded the Movement in the early last century.
Baba Nand Singh believed in prolonged meditation on Guru Nanak's name and in continuous recitations and hymn-singing from Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS).
He set up Gurdwara Nanaksar near village Kaleran in Punjab's Jagraon sometime between 1918-1921. The spiritual sanctuary attracted a following from within the Sikh community.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NANAKSAR AND "MAINSTREAM" SIKHI
It's nuanced.
Like the mainstream Panthak tradition, Sri Guru Granth Sahib remains the main charter of the way of life at Nanaksar.
Like other gurdwaras, kirtan (hymn-singing) and service are performed before dawn, daytime and in the evening hours in SGGS presence.
But Nanaksar shrines do not fly the Nishan Sahib, the sacred flag seen in other gurdwaras.
In Panthak tradition, political and religious matters co-exist, drawn from the concept of Miri and Piri -- politics/temporality and spirituality.
Guru Hargobind (1595-1644), the sixth Guru, wore two swords depicting Miri and Piri and set up the Akal Takht, or the Throne of the Eternal, in Amritsar, in response to the Mughal throne that had turned hostile towards the Sikhs and the Hindus of the time.
Unlike other gurdwaras, langar or the community meals are not prepared on Nanaksar compounds. The faithful instead bring cooked langar to those shrines.
Leaders of Nanaksar gurdwaras are usually celibate.
In Panthak tradition, celibacy is never encouraged. Nine of the ten Gurus were married and had children. The only exception being Guru Har Krishan, who passed at the age of eight.
At the theological level, Baba Nand Singh regarded SGGS as "living divinity". In Panthak tradition, the doctrine of Shabad Guru, the divine word as enshrined in SGGS, reigns.