Sikh Kindle Resources

Vaheguru Jee Ka Khalsa Vaheguru Jee Kee Fateh! 🙏🏽

If you don’t already know me, my name is Maneetpaul Singh. I’m a YouTuber making videos about Book Tech such as Kindles and other e-readers.

I’m also a Sikh.

I recently discovered a few powerful ways to use a Kindle in relation to my Sikhi. SikhNet has a great article about this from several years ago. My goal is to provide some updates to their work, as well as a few tips and tricks of my own.

Which E-Reader?

I highly recommend the Amazon Kindle Scribe if you want to take notes while reading Gurbani. It has a large 10” screen, which makes reading Gurbani PDFs appropriately sized. It also has the ability to annotate while you read using a stylus.

If all you care about is reading, then the Kindle Paperwhite would be my next recommendation (also much more affordable.

Why not use a smartphone or iPad?

Using a Kindle makes reading a much more pleasant experience when compared to a smartphone or tablet. It uses a special e-ink display that feels like you’re reading real paper. On top of that, it’s a dedicated device for reading, with no other distractions or apps.

What are the benefits for Sikhs?

As a Sikh, using a Kindle is a great way to read your Nitnem every day. It’s also a fantastic device to use for Sehej Paath.

If you choose the Kindle Scribe or an e-reader that has stylus support, you can also take notes while reading Gurbani. For me, I find this helpful when trying to do things like memorize Nitnem or researching specific words. The ability to highlight or underline text is incredibly helpful.

What are the disadvantages?

Kindles are designed for reading and not much else. You won’t be able to search for Gurbani or specific Shabads.

E-readers can also be expensive, ranging from $100-$400+. Any e-reader with a stylus will likely be at the higher end of that range.

If you decide to go with a Kindle, you will also be required to have an Amazon account and agree to their privacy policy, terms, etc.

How do I load Gurbani onto my Kindle?

The first step is to download the PDFs you intend to read that the SikhNet team has created (amazing work). Personally, I suggest the Five Banis PDF and Full SGGS PDF (here is a direct download for both of those PDFs).

Once you have the PDFs downloaded, you’ll need to send them to your Kindle using the Send to Kindle website.

At this point, it may take several minutes for the file to process. Eventually, you can go to your Kindle and filter for “Documents” in your Library. You should see your PDFs appear.