At the time of Guru Nanak and his heirs, Hindu society is divided on caste distinctions. Status of an individual is ascribed on the basis of his birth in a particular caste. Social intercourse between members of different castes are minimal. Caste status is also closely linked to traditional work and the symbol of caste identity within society. Marriages are made on the basis of caste. Intra caste marriages are prohibited. Each caste has its council which is responsible for implementing the caste laws.
Being aware of the destructive effects of the caste system in social and cultural fabric relegious Indian society, the gurus of the Sikh vehemently rejected the caste system. Of the Sikh Gurus are opposed to any institutional inequality or caste exclusiveness.
According to the ideology of the caste system, Hindu society is divided into four caste groups: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. Anyone outside the caste sytem are treated as untouchables.
There is a hierarchy of caste groups.The first three are called 'twice born' because the only people of high caste group is eligible for initiation ceremonies and wearing the sacred thread. And only these groups are entitled to hear the Vedas. So both shudras and Hindu women were excluded from the privileges of the initiation ceremony and wearing the sacred thread. Guru Nanak took the opposite view and convicted diffrential treatment of Hindu women, preaching instead the equiality of both sexes. He said: 'How can we call her noblest polluted from whom the world was born? "
Sikh Gurus not only condemn and denounce the caste system but took some practical steps to eliminate the social devisions within Hindu society. LANGAR institutions are not the only aim of providing food needfull but also a practice to show the equality of all those sitting in pangat without any distinctions.
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