FAQs

All our consultants Reverend / Hindu Scholar / Imams / Rabbi / Sikh Scholar are supportive of same-sex unions and have a wealth of experience in this area from pre-marriage counselling to officiating marriage ceremonies across the globe.

Ask our Sikh Scholar…

Top 3 questions and answers:

Q. Where can I find out more about same-sex unions in Sikhism?

A. Sarbat.net is useful website for Sikh lesbians and gays.

Q. Do I need an officiate for an Anand Karaj?

A. Anand Karaj usually takes place at a gurdwara (Sikh temple), although not necessarily so; the marriage may also be conducted at the bride's residence or any other place where the Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh holy book) has been installed. If the marriage takes place somewhere other than a gurdwara, the place must be suitable and the Guru Granth Sahib must be installed following the proper procedure. Any respected Sikh man or woman / Amritdhari (man or woman who is a strict adherent of Sikhism) may perform the marriage ceremony.

Q. Is the Lavaan appropriate for a same-sex union ceremony?

A. Lavaan is about the passage of 2 souls, intertwined, through the four stages of union. It is genderless - in fact, Waheguru is given the masculine form and both partners are talked about in the feminine. Gurbani is rife with this analogy - we are all 'wives' to Waheguru.

Translated into English the Lavari quartet or the Sikh epithalamium would read:

1. By the first nuptial circuiting

The Lord sheweth ye His Ordinance for the daily duties of wedded life: The Scriptures are the Word of the Lord, Learn righteousness, through them, And the Lord will free ye from sin. Hold fast to righteousness, Contemplate the Name of the Lord, Fixing it in your memory as the scriptures have prescribed. Devote yourselves to the Perfect and True Guru. And all your sins shall depart. Fortunate are those whose minds Are imbued with the sweetness of His Name, To them happiness comes without effort; The slave Nanak proclaimeth.

That in the first circling The marriage rite hath begun.

2. By the second nuptial circumambulation

Ye are to understand that the Lord Hath caused ye to meet the True Guru, The fear in your hearts has departed; The filth of selfness in your minds is washed away, By having the fear of God and by singing His praises I stand before Him with reverence, The Lord God is the soul of the universe! There is naught that He doth not pervade. Within us and without, there is One God only; In the company of saints Then are heard the songs of rejoicing. The slave Nanak proclaimeth.

That in the second circling Divine Music is heard.

3. In the third roundabout

There is a longing for the Lord And detachment from the world. In the company of the saints, By our great good fortune, We encounter the Lord. The Lord is found in His purity Through His exaltation, Through the singing of His hymns. By great good fortune we have risen. In the company of the saints Wherein is told the story Of the Ineffable Lord. The Holy Name echoes in the heart: Echoes and absorbs us. We repeat the Name of the Lord, Being blessed by a fortunate destiny Written from of old on our foreheads. The slave Nanak proclaimeth.

That in the third circling The love of God has been awakened in the heart.

4. In the fourth walk around The mind reaches to knowledge of the Divine And God is innerly grasped:

Through the Grace of the Guru We have attained with ease to the Lord; The sweetness of the Beloved Pervades us, body and soul. Dear and pleasing is the Lord to us: Night and day our minds are fixed on Him. By exalting the Lord We have attained the Lord: The fruit our hearts desired; The Beloved has finished His work. The soul, the spouse, delighteth in the Beloved's Name. Felicitations fill our minds; The Name rings in our hearts: The Lord God is united with His Holy Bride. The heart of the Bride flowers with His Name. The slave Nanak proclaimeth.

That in the fourth circling We have found the Eternal Lord. (GG, 773-74)

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