Ik Onkar

Ik Onkar appears as the opening phrase composed by Guru Nanak that begins the Mul Mantar and the Japji Sahib; it is placed at the head of the Guru Granth Sahib as the scripture's foundational theological declaration. Sources describe Guru Nanak’s use of Oankar as part of his poetic and doctrinal composition that frames the Sikh scripture’s teaching about the one Supreme Reality and locates speech and sacred sound as originating from that Divine source.

Ik Onkar is canonically represented by the Gurmukhi glyph ੴ, used visually at the opening of the Guru Granth Sahib and in liturgical manuscripts. The glyph and the words Ik Onkar are inscribed in gurdwaras, appear on certain Sikh flags, and are used as public and commemorative emblems (for example, cited contemporary uses include applications in commercial and public design such as an Air India aircraft livery). As a theological term it has no anthropomorphic or corporeal depiction; the sources emphasize its reference to the formless Divine rather than a personified being.

As a doctrinal and liturgical formula rather than an agent, Ik Onkar does not possess folkloric 'powers'; instead its functional roles in Sikh theology and practice are: asserting the absolute singularity of the Divine (Ik, 'one and only one'); indicating the ineffable or seed-sound quality associated with Onkar (etymologically related to Om/Aum but given distinctive Sikh interpretation); framing the Guru Granth Sahib and Sikh devotional life by naming the Supreme Reality (described with terms such as Akal Purakh and Nirankar); and serving as an emblem and invocation in worship, scripture, and communal identity. Some commentators (e.g., Wazir Singh as cited in sources) interpret Onkar as a variation of Om implying a creative 'seed-force', but Sikh scholarly sources emphasize a distinctively Sikh theological meaning.