New Delhi, India - The head priest, or jathedar, of the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikh religion, based in the northern Indian town of Amritsar, resigned from the post on Tuesday, news reports said. Joginder Singh Vedanti gave his resignation to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC), a body which manages affairs of Sikh shrines, PTI news agency reported. Vedanti gave no reason for his sudden decision.
An SGPC official said the head priest's resignation had been received but gave no further details.
Sikhism began as an offshoot of India's main Hindu religion but evolved as a distinct religion in the 16th and 17th centuries. About 2 per cent of India's over 1 billion population are Sikhs.
There is a large Sikh diaspora as well spread across countries as far flung as the United States, Canada, Britain, East Africa, Thailand and Malaysia.