Last guardians of the warrior Sikh traditions, thousands of Nihang monks roam across Punjab: a life of wandering dedicated to prayer, the practice of Martial Arts, and to the protection of the Sikhs, their front forward mission. To that end, they are excellent Gatka masters, a Martial Art practiced since the 17th century with sabers, daggers, maces and edge bracelets. Each year in March, the Hola Mohalla military parade in Anandpur Sahib is the opportunity for them to demonstrate their mastery of the Martial Arts; thus proving to the 3 millions of followers gathered from all over India their power and heroism.
The Nihangs, last warring monks of the Sikh faith. Photos ŠVirginie Vican/Picturetank/Lightmediation Text ŽGuillaume Pitron Contact - Thierry Tinacci Lightmediation Photo Agency +33 (0)6 61 80 57 21 thierry@lightmediation.com
1400-03: A Nihang warrior uses a Chakhar, a central ring to which ropes are tied. Cannonballs are fixed at the end of each rope. Duringwars, they would be replaced by weapons. Controling the use of such weapon is a true display of skills and strenghts.
1400-01: Nihang warriors get involved in a Gatka fight, using spears, swords and shields.
1400-02: Nihang warrior gets involved in a Gatka fight, using sword.
1400-03: A Nihang warrior uses a Chakhar, a central ring to which ropes are tied. Cannonballs are fixed at the end of each rope. Duringwars, they would be replaced by weapons. Controling the use of such
1400-04: Nihang warrior gets involved in a Gatka fight.
1400-20: Nihangs are very good horsemen. Here, Methab Singh trains his horse.
1400-05: Nihang warriors get involved in a Gatka fight, using spears.
1400-06: A Nihang warrior uses a Chakhar, a central ring to which ropes are tied. Cannonballs are fixed at the end of each rope. Duringwars, they would be replaced by weapons. Controling the use of such
1400-07: Nihang warrior gets involved in a Gatka fight.
1400-08: A Nihang warrior uses a Chakhar, a central ring to which ropes are tied. Cannonballs are fixed at the end of each rope. Duringwars, they would be replaced by weapons. Controling the use of such
1400-50: A Nihang holds a double blade sword. Behind him, the main temple of Anandpur Sahib.
1400-09: Nihang warrior during a Gatka fight. Nihang wears gun, but use spears, swords and shields to fight.
1400-10: Gathered under their tent, Yoga Singh and his friends are checking their weapon.
1400-11: Young Nihang warrior
1400-12: General view of the main temple of Anandpur Sahib. The Sikhs regularly go to the baths to pray.
1400-11: Young Nihang warrior
1400-48: During Hola Mohalla festival, 3 million people gather in Anandpur Sahib. Horse competitions are also organised.
1400-13: Major Singh's turban is made of a dozen of multicoloured bands. It lengths 425 metres and weighs 35 kilos. Its pose starts at about 6:30 am in the morning and ends 2 h 30 later
1400-14: Major Singh's turban is made of a dozen of multicoloured bands. It lengths 425 metres and weighs 35 kilos. Its pose starts at about 6:30 am in the morning and ends 2 h 30 later
1400-15: Major Singh's turban is made of a dozen of multicoloured bands. It lengths 425 metres and weighs 35 kilos. Its pose starts at about 6:30 am in the morning and ends 2 h 30 later.
1400-16: Portrait of a Nihang.
1400-12: General view of the main temple of Anandpur Sahib. The Sikhs regularly go to the baths to pray.
1400-17: Nihangs are preparing food in the early morning.
1400-18: Nihangs are preparing food in the early morning.
1400-19: 1401-1: Nomadic way of life in the early morning.
1400-20: Nihangs are very good horsemen. Here, Methab Singh trains his horse.
1400-33: Nihangs cooking, and reading.
1400-21: Itinerance, in buses or on horses, with the Sutlej river in the background.
1400-22: Nihangs are living in Jathas (communities). Part of their work consists of cultivating wheat infields and crushing the grains for their horses.
1400-23: Nihangs are living in Jathas (communities). Part of their work consists of cultivating wheat infields and crushing the grains for animals.
1400-24: Itinerance. After the Hola Mohalla military parade, Nihangs get ready to ride their horses.
1400-49: During Hola Mohalla festival, 3 million people gather in Anandpur Sahib. Horse competitions are also organised.
1400-25: Load and unloading a truck filled with straw, for cows.
1400-26: Break while hunting.
1400-27: Sacrifice of a goat, for a meal.
1400-28: Baba Ji (important Nihang) gives a handle of candies to a child.
1400-39: A Nihang walks in the streets of Anandpur Sahib, followed by a crowd of respectful Sikhs.
1400-29: Nihang, wearing a sword.
1400-30: Portrait of a Nihang.
1400-31: Way of life of a Nihang community.
1400-32: Way of life of a Nihang community
1400-45: Meditation in front of the Holy Book, the Guru Grant Sahib.
1400-33: Nihangs cooking, and reading.
1400-34: Way of life of a Nihang community.
1400-35: One Nihang warms up before getting ready to leave. A truck is being loaded in the background.
1400-36: Several women bring some help to the Nihang community. They prepare chapatis by mixing flour and water.
1400-43: A Sikh prostrates himself in front of Baba Santa Singh, the Jathedar (head) of the Baba Buddha Dal, the most powerful Jatha of the Nihang's community.
1400-37: An old Baba Ji transmits his knowledge to a young Nihang.
1400-38: Nihangs resting.
1400-39: A Nihang walks in the streets of Anandpur Sahib, followed by a crowd of respectful Sikhs.
1400-40: View of the main temple of Anandpur Sahib from the bath.
1400-51: During Hola Mohalla festival, 3 million people gather in Anandpur Sahib. Horse competitions are also organised.
1400-41: Young Nihang praying.
1400-42: Nihangs are gathered, praying under the tents
1400-43: A Sikh prostrates himself in front of Baba Santa Singh, the Jathedar (head) of the Baba Buddha Dal, the most powerful Jatha of the Nihang's community.
1400-44: Nihangs are gathered, praying under the tents
1400-45: Meditation in front of the Holy Book, the Guru Grant Sahib.
1400-46: A Baba Ji prays in front of the Holy Book.
1400-47: During Hola Mohalla festival, 3 million people gather in Anandpur Sahib. Horse competitions are also organised.
1400-48: During Hola Mohalla festival, 3 million people gather in Anandpur Sahib. Horse competitions are also organised.
1400-52: Three million people gather in Anandpur Sahib during the Hola Mohalla festival, Elephants parade during the festival.
1400-49: During Hola Mohalla festival, 3 million people gather in Anandpur Sahib. Horse competitions are also organised.
1400-50: A Nihang holds a double blade sword. Behind him, the main temple of Anandpur Sahib.
1400-53: Three million people gather in Anandpur Sahib during the Hola Mohalla festival, Elephants parade during the festival.
1400-54: During Hola Mohalla festival, 3 million people gather in Anandpur Sahib. Horse competitions are also organised.
The Nihangs, last warring monks of the Sikh faith. Last guardians of traditions, thousands roam across Punjab, their wandering lives martial arts.
the warrior Sikh of Nihang monks in India, devoting to meditation and
Sabres held firmly in their fists, the fighters open their duels with preparatory dances, followed by bold provocations. "Clouds darken the horizon! I roar upon this land like the sky! Come fight with me!" Wearing electric blue flowing tunics and oversized turbans set in tight steel rings, thousands of warriors challenge each other on the streets of Anandpur Sahib, a holy Sikh town in the Himalayan foothills of Punjab. There, the Nihangs size their enemies up, dodge each other and lurch into mock battles. Swords slice through the air as spears and shields clash violently. When exhausted, the duellists end their fight with a salute before disappearing back into a sea of colourful turbans. These soldiers are known as the Nihangs, those "freed from the constraints of this world" in Sanskrit. They believe they are the last heirs of Khalsa, a military and religious order founded in 1699 by the last Sikh spiritual leader, Guru Gobind Singh to defend his people against the powerful Moghals. At the end of the XVIIIth century, the
Maharaja Ranjit Singh united the scattered Khalsa brigades under his leadership. With an army of 30,000 men, Ranjit Singh established a Punjabi empire bordered by Kashmir, Afghanistan and Tibet, keeping the Persians, the Maraths and the Afghanis at bay. The British will have to fight two wars to defeat the Sikh armies and take over Punjab in 1849. But their campaigns were not enough to destroy the Khalsa? Today there are still fifteen Nihang communities, numbering some 10,000 warriors, scattered around Punjab. While they have kept the martial trappings of their ancestors, their weapons are only for show, and their military titles only symbolic. Most of the warring monks work as farmers in Punjab and devote their lives to preserving the traditions of Guru Gobind Singh's fearsome armies. On the GT road between India and Pakistan, traffic slows down some 300 km north of Delhi. Eighty riders canter past on horses draped in bright colourful cloths, brandishing flags bearing the Sikh symbols of sabres and swords. "We're always on the go, all year round, riding from celebrations to religious gatherings with an electric generator and our holy book," explains Yoga Singh, 17 years old. Near the road, in the middle of a clearing bordered by the turquoise waters of the Sutlej river, Balkar Singh, 65 years old, meditates on his mattress under a mango tree. "We hand out clothes and food to the needy. When asked, we also scrutinize the reputations of others and arbitrate in conflicts," he explains, "We give Sikhs a sense of community in the name of god." The Nihangs say their main aim is to protect Sikhs "in case the enemy returned." To do so, the warring monks learn to master Gatka, a martial art dating
back to the XVIIth century which involves daggers, shields, and sharp sabres, all borne legally by government decree. Every year, during the month of March, the Nihangs demonstrate their age-old prestige and recruit new warriors during the Hola Mohalla military parade. During this sacred event, the peaceful town of Anandpur Sahib, which normally numbers 15,000 residents, becomes a bustling city and welcomes some three million pilgrims. The swarming crowds set up camp in the straw of sheepfolds and even in the mud of the main streets, attracting unavoidable bands of mutilated beggars. Red, green and blue garlands brighten up the temples while enticing smells of chapattis and curry escape from surrounding canteens. Priestly litanies blare from the loud-speakers, mixing strangely with pop music rhythms. And in the midst of this chaos of smells, colours and sounds, the Nihangs are the centre of everyone's attention. Spectators come to admire their thoroughbred horses, their armoury which has remained unaltered for the past three centuries, and their turbans which can measure up to 425 m and weigh up to 35 kg, much like the one borne by Major Singh. "Nihangs must strive to attain an ideal of honesty and human qualities," he explains, "We lead a life of abnegation and generosity." Indeed, unlike the rest of the Sikh community, the warrior monks observe the Rahit, a strict religious code of conduct. Their daily lives are austere and entirely devoted to roaming throughout Punjab, studying sacred texts, handing out food and helping the poor they met. Some even embrace celibacy and choose to live with men only. But their strict ways are eased by the consumption of bhang, a drink containing marijuana, a substance
normally banned by the Sikh faith. According to Sikh devotees, it helps them reach a higher spiritual level. Former criminals have also joined the ranks of the Nihang in hope of gaining redemption. The Nihang order certainly does hold some contradictions. And many Sikhs are at once fascinated and bewildered by the mystical aura surrounding the Nihangs and some of their more questionable, almost provocative, qualities. Living off the donations of devotees, exhibiting weapons as extravagant as they are harmless, the roving monks fight a faceless enemy, an interior fiend: collective amnesia. Increasingly drawn to the West, the Sikh community is forgetting its own traditions. The Nihangs perpetuate the memory and myths of their ancestors through their lifestyles and storytelling. "Nihangs are a force created to protect the sacred places of the Sikh faith. Their mission is to protect our common heritage so that future generations won't forget who we are and where we came from," confirms Sukhdev Singh, an official in charge of managing Sikh festivals, over a cup of steaming tea. Surrounded by his bodyguards bearing rifles and pump-action shotguns, Babir Singh, 40 years old, receives me in a tent under a pale neon light. "Every year, more and more warriors join our ranks," says the second commander of the powerful group Baba Buddha Dal. "My two children will study in the United States and will learn new languages to spread our faith." I worry that his offspring might prefer the charms of the West to the roaming lifestyles of the warring Sikh monks. But the military chief smiles at me, shakes his head and replies simply: "I know they will come back."
Captions. Photo 1 : Nihang warriors get involved in a Gatka fight, using spears, swords and shields Photo 2 : Nihang warrior gets involved in a Gatka fight Photo 3 : A Nihang warrior uses a Chakhar, a central ring to which ropes are tied. Cannonballs are fixed at the end of each rope. Duringwars, they would be replaced by weapons. Controling the use of such weapon is a true display of skills and strenghts. Photo 4 : Nihang warrior gets involved in a Gatka Photo 5 : Nihang warriors get involved in a Gatka fight, using spears. Photos 6 & 8 : In the background, a Nihang warrior uses a Chakhar, a central ring to which ropes are tied. Cannonballs are fixed at the end of each rope. Duringwars, they would be replaced by weapons. Controling the use of such weapon is a true display of skills and strenghts. Photos 7 : Nihang warrior gets involved in a Gatka fight. Photo 9 : Nihang warrior during a Gatka fight. Nihang wears gun, but use spears, swords and shields to fight Photo 10 : Gathered under their tent, Yoga Singh and his friends are checking their weapon.. Photo 11 : Young Nihang warrior. Photo 12 : General view of the main temple of Anandpur Sahib. The Sikhs regularly go to the baths to pray. Photos 13, 14, 15 : Major Singh's turban is made of a dozen of multicoloured bands. It lengths 425 metres and weighs 35 kilos. Its pose starts at about 6:30 am in the morning and ends 2 h 30 later. Photo 16 : Portrait of a Nihang.
Photos 17& 18 : Nihangs are preparing food in the early morning. Photo 19 : Nomadic way of life in the early morning. Photo 20 : Nihangs are very good horsemen. Here, Methab Singh trains his horse. Photos 21 : Itinerance, in buses or on horses, with the Sutlej river in the background. Photos 22, 23 : Nihangs are living in Jathas (communities). Part of their work consists of cultivating wheat infields and crushing the grains for their horses Photo 24 : Itinerance. After the Hola Mohalla military parade, Nihangs get ready to ride their horses. Photo 25 : Load and unloading a truck filled with straw, for cows. Photo 26 : Break while hunting. Photo 27 : Sacrifice of a goat, for a meal. Photo 28 : A Baba Ji (important Nihang) gives a handle of candies to a child. Photo 29 : Nihang, wearing a sword. Photo 30 : Portrait of a Nihang. Photo 31, 32, 34 : Way of life of a Nihang community. Photo 33 : Nihangs cooking, and reading. Photo 35 : One Nihang warms up before getting ready to leave. A truck is being loaded in the background. Photo 36 : Several women bring some help to the Nihang community. They prepare chapatis by mixing flour and water. Photo 37 : An old Baba Ji transmits his knowledge to a young Nihang. Photo 38 : Nihangs resting. Photo 39 : A Nihang walks in the streets of Anandpur Sahib, followed by a crowd of respectful Sikhs. Photo 40 : View of the main temple of Anandpur Sahib from the bath. Photo 41 : Young Nihang praying. Photos 42 & 44 : Nihangs are gathered, praying under the tents
Photo 43 : A Sikh prostrates himself in front of Baba Santa Singh, the Jathedar (head) of the Baba Buddha Dal, the most powerful Jatha of the Nihang's community. Photo 45 : Meditation in front of the Holy Book, the Guru Grant Sahib. Photo 46 : A Baba Ji prays in front of the Holy Book. Photos 47, 48, 49, 51, 54 : During Hola Mohalla festival, 3 million people gather in Anandpur Sahib. Horse competitions are also organised. Photo 50 : A Nihang holds a double blade sword. Behind him, the main temple of Anandpur Sahib. Photos 52, 53 : Three million people gather in Anandpur Sahib during the Hola Mohalla festival, Elephants parade during the festival. Photo 54 : During Hola Mohalla festival, 3 million people gather in Anandpur Sahib. Horse competitions are also organised.