Amitabh Bachchan Acknowledges Maternal Sikh Roots on Gurpurab

Post by : Mina Rahman

On Gurpurab this year, Amitabh Bachchan highlighted a lesser-known side of his heritage, saying his maternal family belonged to the Sikh community in Punjab and that he identifies as partly Sikh.

Appearing on Kaun Banega Crorepati 16, the actor discussed his parents' backgrounds and questioned the label 'inter-caste' for their union. He noted his father hailed from Uttar Pradesh while his mother came from a Sikh household, adding that he considers himself 'half-Sardar' and recalling how his maternal aunts would affectionately call him 'Amitabh Singh'.

Bachchan has previously marked Gurpurab by recalling formative memories from his childhood in Allahabad, where his mother's recitations of Gurbani left a strong impression. He has written about his mother, Teji Kaur Suri, and her family, including his grandfather Sardar Khazan Singh Suri and relatives who served as prabandhaks at the Anantpur Sahib gurdwara.

Those recollections underline the cultural and spiritual influence of his mother's faith, with the hymns of Gurbani featuring prominently in family observances during Gurpurab.

About Amitabh Bachchan's Parents:

• Harivansh Rai Bachchan: A noted Hindi poet and author famed for Madhushala, a leading figure of the Nayi Kavita movement and recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 1976. Born in Babupatti in the United Provinces, he adopted 'Bachchan' as his pen name.

• Teji Bachchan (née Teji Kaur Suri): From a Sikh family in Lyallpur (present-day Faisalabad, Pakistan), she was engaged in social work and theatre. She met Harivansh at a college event in Lahore and the couple married in Allahabad in 1941.

The marriage of Harivansh and Teji reflected cross-regional ties, a pattern that Amitabh later continued when he married Jaya Bhaduri in 1973, illustrating longstanding cultural blending in the family.