WilheminaJanzen at 23:12, 4 March 2026

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[[File:Process of making bhang in Punjab, India.jpg|thumb|Process of making Shaheedi degh in a Sikh village in [[Punjab, India]]. On the [[Sikhs|Sikh]] army training day called [[Hola Mohalla|Hola Moholla]] it is a customary tradition.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Ayyagari | first=Shalini | name-list-style = vanc | title="Hori Hai": A Festival of Colours!! (review) | journal=Asian Music | publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press | volume=38 | issue=2 | year=2007 | pages=151–153 | doi=10.1353/amu.2007.0029 | s2cid=192201145 }}</ref>]]
In [[Sikhism]], some Sikhs particularly of the [[Nihang]] community use [[Cannabis edible|edible]] [[cannabis]] in a religious context. They make use of [[cannabis]] by ingestion. It is used to make a drink called ''[[Shaheedi Degh]]'' which is meant to help Nihang Singhs become highly present in the moment. [citation needed] [[Nihang]] Singhs used marijuana in the early times of Sikh history during times of battle, when it is believed to have helped them become more fierce warriors. [citation needed]

==Prohibition==
The first Sikh guru, [[Guru Nanak]], stated that using any mind altering substance (without medical purposes) is a distraction from God. Guru Nanak was offered ''[[bhang]]'' by the Mughal emperor [[Babur]]; Nanak however declined, and recited this [[shabda|shabad]]:

{{blockquote|''Fear of Thee, o Lord, is my bhang, and my mind the pouch in which I carry it. Intoxicated with this bhang I have abandoned all interest in worldly concerns''.<ref name="McLeod, 2004">{{cite book|author=McLeod|title=Sikhs and Sikhism: Comprising Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion, Early Sikh Tradition, The Evolution of the Sikh Community, Who is a Sikh?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QhV5AAAAMAAJ|date=4 March 2004|publisher=OUP India|isbn=978-0-19-566892-6|pages=74–75}}</ref>}}The [[Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee|SGPC]] has also added a section in their [[Sikh Rehat Maryada|rehait maryada]] (Sikh codes of conduct) that bans the Cannabis, opium and liquor for all Sikhs that follow its rehit maryada. The following is a translated quote from the [[Sikh Rehat Maryada|rehait maryada]]. ''"A Sikh must not take hemp (cannabis), opium, liquor, tobacco, in short, any intoxicant. His only routine intake should be food."''<ref>{{Cite web |title=SikhiToTheMax |url=https://www.sikhitothemax.org/rehat-maryadha |access-date=2022-11-05 |website=www.sikhitothemax.org |language=en |archive-date=2022-11-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105104150/https://www.sikhitothemax.org/rehat-maryadha |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Usage==
''[[Bhang]]'' (hemp) was a wild-growth plant found in the jungles of Punjab and along river-banks.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Gupta |first=Hari Ram |title=History of the Sikhs |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |year=1978 |volume=IV: The Sikh Commonwealth or Rise and Fall of Sikh Misls |pages=205}}</ref> An intoxicating drink can be produced by pounding the plant in a mortar and sifting it.<ref name=":0" />[[File:Gouache by an Amritsar artist depicting the preparation and consumption of Indian hemp (bhang).jpg|thumb|Gouache by an Amritsar artist depicting the preparation and consumption of Indian hemp (bhang), circa 1870.]]
The Sikhs inherited the tradition of drinking originates from the sixth Sikh guru, [[Guru Hargobind|Guru Hargobind Sahib]] who started it to give sikhs Bir Ras (warrior spirit) and to get them energized, as Sikhs used to get up early for [[Amrit Velā|''amrit vela'']] and not go back to sleep till after the evening prayers of Sohila Sahib.

ਬਿਦਿਹ ਸਾਕੀਯਾ ਸਾਗ਼ਰੇ ਸਬਜ਼ ਗੂੰ ॥

‘Oh! Saki Give me the cup full of green (liquid)

ਕਿ ਮਾਰਾ ਬਕਾਰਸਤ ਜੰਗ ਅੰਦਰੂੰ ॥੨੦॥

‘Which I need at the time of struggle(20)

ਲਬਾਲਬ ਬਕੁਨ ਦਮ ਬਦਮ ਨੋਸ਼ ਕੁਨ ॥

‘Fill it up to the brim so that I can drink it with every breath

ਗ਼ਮੇ ਹਰ ਦੁ ਆਲਮ ਫ਼ਰਾਮੋਸ਼ ਕੁਨ ॥੨੧॥੧੨॥

‘And forget the afflictions of both the worlds(21)(12)

(Dasam Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 1428)

The [[Bhangi Misl]] of the [[Sikh Confederacy]] in the 18th century derived its name from ''[[bhang]]''. The ''misl'' received its name "Bhangi" because Chhajja Singh and his soldiers frequently used the herbal intoxicant [[bhang]] (drink made from [[cannabis sativa]]).<ref>Singh, Bhagata (1993). ''A History of The Sikh Misals'', p. 89. Publication Bureau, Punjabi University, Patiala, 1993.</ref><ref>Seetal, Sohan Singh (1981). ''The Sikh Misals and the Punjab States'', p.11. India: Lahore Book Shop, Ludhiana, 1981.</ref>

===Nihang Sikhs===
[[File:Mural of two Nihang Sikhs making Bhang or Sukh Nidhan.jpg|thumb|Mural of two Nihang Sikhs making Bhang or Sukh Nidhan.]]
In the modern day, cannabis consumption (but not smoking) is commonly associated with the [[Nihang]] Singhs, a sect who continue the orthodox Sikh warrior tradition, who consume drinks as ''sukha'' or ''sukhnidhaan,'' or more commonly ''shaheedi degha''.<ref name="SinghFenech2014">{{cite book|author1=Pashaura Singh|author2=Louis E. Fenech|title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8I0NAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA378|date=March 2014|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-969930-8|pages=378–}}</ref><ref name="SinghHawley2012">{{cite book|author1=Pashaura Singh|author2=Michael Hawley|title=Re-imagining South Asian Religions: Essays in Honour of Professors Harold G. Coward and Ronald W. Neufeldt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4SLhLakpsNsC&pg=PA34|date=7 December 2012|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-24236-4|pages=34–}}</ref> S''haheedi degh'' is mostly used in Panjab on the Sikh holidays of [[Holla Mohalla]] and [[Vaisakhi]]. At many Sikh temples, including Takht Sachkhand Sri [[Hazur Sahib]] Ji, the ''shaheedi degh'' is offered as a holy food.<ref name="amritworld.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.amritworld.com/main/?p=82#sthash.agD98t5F.dpbs|title=The 'Sukhnidhaan' or 'Bhang' (cannabis)|work=Amrit World|date=28 February 2008|access-date=19 November 2015|archive-date=20 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120075451/http://www.amritworld.com/main/?p=82#sthash.agD98t5F.dpbs|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2001, [[Jathedar Santa Singh|Baba Santa Singh]], the jathedar of [[Budha Dal]], along with 20 Nihang [[Jathedar|jathadars]] (leaders), refused to accept the ban on the consumption of bhang by the [[Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee|SGPC]].<ref>[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010326/punjab1.htm#3 Nihangs ‘not to accept’ ban on bhang] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303215114/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010326/punjab1.htm#3 |date=2016-03-03 }}. [[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]. March 26, 2001.</ref> Baba Santa Singh was excommunicated for a different issue, and replaced with Balbir Singh, who agreed to shun the consumption of bhang.<ref>[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010310/main7.htm#2 No ‘bhang’ at Hola Mohalla] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208130304/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010310/main7.htm#2 |date=2015-12-08 }}. [[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]. March 10, 2001.</ref>

Some Nihang groups consume cannabis or shaheedi degh (ਭੰਗ), purportedly to help in meditation. Sukhaa-parsaad (ਸੁੱਖਾਪ੍ਰਰਸਾਦ), "dry-sweet", is the term Nihang use to refer to it. It was traditionally crushed and taken as a liquid, especially during festivals like Hola Mohalla.

== See also ==

* {{annotated link|Rehat}}
* {{annotated link|Diet in Sikhism}}
* {{annotated link|Jhatka}}
* {{annotated link|Meat consumption among Sikhs}}
* {{annotated link|Prohibitions in Sikhism}}
* {{annotated link|Bhangi Misl}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Cannabis and religion}}
{{Sikhism}}

[[Category:Cannabis and Sikhism]]
[[Category:Cannabis culture]]
[[Category:Cannabis in India]]

Cannabis and Sikhism - Revision history

WilheminaJanzen at 23:12, 4 March 2026