Sikh. [342] The sect do not prohibit
the consumption of meat and liquor, but some of them eat only the
flesh of animals killed by the Sikh method of Jatka, or cutting
off the head by a blow on the back of the neck. Their only form of
initiation is the ordinary Hindu practice of drinking the foot-nectar
or sugar and water in which the toe of the _guru_ has been dipped,
and this is not very common. It is known as the _Charan ka pahul_ or
foot-baptism, as opposed to the _Khande ka pahul_ or sword-baptism of
the Govindi Sikhs. [343] Baba Nanak himself, Sir E. Maclagan states,
is a very favourite object of veneration among Sikhs of all kinds,
and the picture of the _guru_ with his long white beard and benevolent
countenance is constantly met with in the sacred places of the Punjab.

2. Nanakpanthis in the Central Provinces.

In 1901 about 13,000 persons returned themselves as Nanakpanthis in
the Central Provinces, of whom 7000 were Banjaras and the remainder
principally Kunbis, Ahirs and Telis. The Banjaras generally revere
Nanak, as shown in the article on that caste. A certain number of
Mehtars or sweepers also profess the sect, being attached to it,
as to the Sikh religion, by the abolition of caste restrictions
and prejudices advocated by their founders; but this tolerance has
not been perpetuated, and the unclean classes, such as the Mazbi or
scavenger Sikhs, are as scrupulously avoided and kept at a distance
by the Sikh as by the Hindu, and are even excluded from communion,
and from the rites and holy places of their religion. [344]

3. Udasis.

The Udasis are a class of ascetics of the Nanakpanthi or Sikh faith,
whose order was founded by Sri Chand, the younger son of Nanak. They
are recruited from all castes and will eat food from any Hindu. They
are almost all celibates, and pay special reverence to the Adi-Granth
of Nanak, but also respect the Granth of Govind Singh and attend
the same shrines as the Sikhs generally. Their service consists of a
ringing of bells and blare of instruments, and they chant hymns and
wave lights before the Adi-Granth and the picture of Baba Nanak. In
the Central Provinces members of several orders which have branched
off from the main Nanakpanthi community are known as Udasi. Thus some
of them say they do not go to any temples and worship Nirankal or
the deity without shape or form, a name given to the supreme God by
Nanak. In the Punjab the Nirankaris constitute a separ