Nirȧkārī

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Niraṅkārī. Sikh reform movement, regarded as a sect by mainstream Sikhs. Niraṅkārīs emphasize reliance on the will of God, Niraṅkār. Despite the injunctions of their founder, Dayāl Dās (1783–1855), he and his successors, Darbārā Siṅgh, Hārā Siṅgh, and Gurbakhsh Siṅgh, are venerated as Gurūs in succession to Gobind Siṅgh. Like the Nāmdhārīs, the Niraṅkārīs originated as a 19th-cent. renewal of true Sikhism. Dayāl Dās called Sikhs to worship Niraṅkār, rejecting idol-worship, brahmanical birth- and death-ritual, and pilgrimage to Hardwār. Sant Niraṅkārīs are a separate movement often confused with Niraṅkārīs. In 1978, following clashes between Sant Niraṅkārīs and followers of Jarnail Siṅgh Bhindrānawāle, a hukamnāmā was issued from the Akāl Takht, bidding all Sikhs to boycott the Sant Niraṅkārīs.