In a temple in Lucknow, India, hundreds of Sindhi Hindus brought silk cloths, some with gold brocade, others adorned with silver, to present as an offering to a book ceremonially being recited under a canopy. The offering of cloths was the climax of a week of special expressions of devotion celebrating the birthday of Guru Nanak (1469–1539), whose compositions form a significant portion of the text under the canopy, known as the Ādi Granth or Guru Granth Sāhib. This temple maintained the Guru Granth Sāhib as the central object of devotion, while a copy of the Bhagavad Gītā sat beside it, and various statues of deities like Gaṇeṣa, Durgā and Kṛṣṇa resided in shrines along the sides of the main worship area.

These expressions of devotion challenge understandings of these religions that are common both within and outside India. While the worshippers in this temple generally identified themselves as Hindus, the dominant understandings of religions in India recognize the Guru Granth Sāhib and Guru Nanak as central to Sikhism, and many people who identify as either Hindu or Sikh emphasize how Sikhism is a separate religion from Hinduism, which common understandings associate with devotion to the Bhagavad Gītā and deities like those images worshipped in this temple. According to typical narratives describing the formation of Sikhism, retold by many who identify as Sikh and non-Sikh, Nanak was born in a family that identified with Hindu practices.