Ik Onkar

Ik Onkar (Gurmukhi: ੴ, ਇੱਕ ਓਅੰਕਾਰ; Ikk Ōankār Punjabi pronunciation: [ɪkː oəŋkaɾ]) is the symbol that represents the One Supreme Reality and is a central tenet of Sikh religious philosophy.Ik (ਇੱਕ) means one and only one who cannot be compared or contrasted with any other, (ਓਅੰਕਾਰ) is the one universal ever flowing divine melody and existential unending sound of God. The word is Oang and Kar is the unending continuation of Oang. This sound manifests in billions of galaxies and universes (consistent with the big bang theory which led to the creation of all galaxies) and its melody also leads to protect and preserve them as everything gets merged back into this sound, which has happened countless times before.

It is a symbol of the unity of God in Sikhism, and is found in all religious scriptures and places such as Gurdwaras. Derived from Punjabi, Ik Onkār is the first phrase in the Mul Mantar referring to the existence of "one constant divine melody" which is proved by Gurbani itself in: "Oang aad saroopay Oang Gurmukh kiyo pasaara"ll "EKANGKAR ek dhunn ekay ekay raag alaapay॥ Eka desi ek dikhawe eko raheya byaapay"॥, "Eko kwao kita pasao"॥ "Dhunn mei dhayn dhyan mei janeya gurmukh akath kahani"॥ "Thakur hamara sad bolanta"॥ It is found in the Gurmukhi script and is consequently also part of the Sikh morning prayer, Japji Sahib. It is a combination of two characters, the numeral ੧, Ikk (one) and the first letter of the word Onkar (Constant taken to mean God) - which also happens to be the first letter of the Gurmukhī script - an ūṛā, ੳ, coupled with a specially adapted vowel symbol hōṛā, yielding ਓ.