⟵ Back to podcasts

Explore Alahania (Mahala 1)

The Guru Granth Sahib Project

Thursday
,
4
April
2024

Revealed to Baba Sundar, the great-grandson of Guru Amardas Sahib, Sadd holds great significance in the Sikh funeral ceremony and is recited during final rites.

Alahania is a mournful or sorrowful Panjabi folk song. When a person dies, friends and relatives usually visit the deceased’s family to share their sorrow and memories of their loved one’s life and deeds. Expressing such feelings creates the core of the folk poetic form Alahani.


The Alahania composition revealed by Guru Nanak Sahib redirects and transforms the sorrow and grief of death and separation from loved ones into a serene state, urging the being to embrace the will of IkOankar (the Divine). By illustrating the insignificance and impermanence of the material world, this composition inspires the mind towards a perpetual connection with the eternal companion, IkOankar.

In This Podcast

Jasleen Kaur

Research Associate
Research Associate

Jasleen Kaur is a Research Associate at the Sikh Research Institute. She has received a Religious Studies B.A./M.A. from the University of Virginia, focusing on South Asian Religions through the lens of literature and poetry.

View profile ⟶

Related Content

No items found.

The Sikh Research Institute recognizes its ethical responsibility to promptly correct any factual small or large errors. Please get in touch with us via email to request a correction if you have identified a mistake.

Suggest a correction →

Latest Podcasts

Thursday
,
11
December
2025

Explore Salok Sheikh Farid Ji (Salok 66-92)

In saloks sixty-six through ninety-two, Sheikh Farid Ji reminds us that with each day comes someone’s time to depart this world. All those here are like guests; yet they spend their lives oblivious, forgetting to prepare for the journey ahead.

LISTEN NOW⟶
Friday
,
5
December
2025

The Wind Carries The Guru’s Presence

Inni Kaur reflects on how wind, rivers, and skies reveal Guru Nanak Sahib’s Presence. Through poetic narration, this inward journey explores Hukam, grace, and the jewel of Nam, guiding us closer to Divine love.

LISTEN NOW⟶
Thursday
,
23
October
2025

Explore Salok Sheikh Farid Ji (Salok 37-65)

In saloks thirty-seven through sixty-five, Sheikh Farid Ji describes the typical human life, where beings are drawn to glittery yet ultimately harmful transient things and relationships, spending their entire lives in pursuit of them.

LISTEN NOW⟶

Share on Social Media

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Stay informed with our weekly updates, important events and more at SikhRI.

Thank you! Your submission has been received.
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.