Sangat
Topic: Bhakti and Sufi Traditions · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Bhakti-Sufi Traditions"
Meaning
Sangat means "congregation". It was the system of group worship that Guru Nanak (1469–1539) set up in Punjab. His followers gathered together to sing and recite hymns in praise of the Divine Name. There was no distinction of caste among them. Sangat turned Nanak's teaching into a living community, and that community later grew into the Sikh Panth.
Example
Guru Nanak's followers met in sangat to sing his shabad, hymns in Punjabi, to the music of the rabab played by his attendant Mardana. To keep the community going, he appointed Angad as his successor.
Don't confuse with
- Khalsa Panth: This is the "army of the pure", founded much later by the tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh. The sangat was Guru Nanak's simple congregation for worship.