Jump to content

Nondescript Gurdwara Throws Up Rare Treasures Of Gurus’ Times


B4ND4
 Share

Recommended Posts

Dominating the finds is this rare painted rabab

Nondescript gurdwara throws up rare treasures of Gurus' times

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 28

ind4.jpg

After ages of obscure existence at a gurdwara in Fatehgarh Sahib, a treasure trove of artifacts belonging to the period of the Sikh Gurus has been unravelled and documented.

Dominating the list of finds, comprising among other things two rare swords with Guru Gobind Singh's name engraved on them and 62 arrows, some mounted with a gold leaf, is a rabab, which appears to have been crafted in the 16th century. A precious find, this rabab has miniature paintings on it. This might well be the oldest existing painted stringed instrument in the country. The National Museum has painted instruments in its collection, but none so old.

Documented in detail by Dr J.S. Bhatia, senior art executive with Punjabi University, Patiala, the rabab is, at present, in a ravaged state and needs immediate restoration. There are visible structural similarities between the contours of this rabab and the one delineated in the Janam Sakhis.

"Circumstantially, it seems to have been made in the 16th century on the behalf of some Rajput king, who must have offered it to Guru Arjan Dev. The use of colours and technique is close to the Rajput style. It won't be wrong to say that the painter was either a Rajasthani or was deeply influenced by the Rajput school of art that flourished during 1500 to 1550 AD," explained Bhatia, who stumbled upon the treasure at Gurdwara Dera Baba Nattha Singh in Kapurgarh during his research on Sikh portrait paintings. There are references to Kapurgarh in the Sikh encyclopaedia.

Other precious finds in the gurdwara include the Guru Granth Sahib, whose opening page has an illustrated leaf bearing Guru Gobind Singh's portrait in Jammu Style. There are three chaurs (fly whisks of jute fibre), two ivory quivers, two battle axes, two shields studded with copper discs and a punch dagger bearing the image of Lord Ganesha.

It is believed that Bhai Nattha Singh, a devoted Sikh of Guru Arjan Dev's time or his descendants, preserved these for posterity. They first resided at Kiratpur Sahib, the headquarters of the sixth and seventh Gurus, and later shifted to Anandpur Sahib during the time of Guru Gobind Singh.

History tells us that Guru Gobind Singh was forced to leave Qila Anandgargh in 1704 AD. At that time, the Sikhs carried their precious books, weapons and other historic artifacts with them. But due to flooding in Sarsa, most of these possessions were lost. Some were, however, lodged at safe locations. This theory is not foolproof. The collection is indeed a challenge for art historians, said Bhatia, whose study on the finds is under publication. But one thing is clear. Whosoever brought the rare collection for safe keeping at Kapurgarh was wise, as this village was located in the areas liberated by Banda Bahadur after his victory in Sirhind in 1708 AD.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt


  • Topics

  • Posts

    • yeh it's true, we shouldn't be lazy and need to learn jhatka shikaar. It doesn't help some of grew up in surrounding areas like Slough and Southall where everyone thought it was super bad for amrit dharis to eat meat, and they were following Sant babas and jathas, and instead the Singhs should have been normalising jhatka just like the recent world war soldiers did. We are trying to rectifiy this and khalsa should learn jhatka.  But I am just writing about bhog for those that are still learning rehit. As I explained, there are all these negative influences in the panth that talk against rehit, but this shouldn't deter us from taking khanda pahul, no matter what level of rehit we are!
    • How is it going to help? The link is of a Sikh hunter. Fine, but what good does that do the lazy Sikh who ate khulla maas in a restaurant? By the way, for the OP, yes, it's against rehit to eat khulla maas.
    • Yeah, Sikhs should do bhog of food they eat. But the point of bhog is to only do bhog of food which is fit to be presented to Maharaj. It's not maryada to do bhog of khulla maas and pretend it's OK to eat. It's not. Come on, bro, you should know better than to bring this Sakhi into it. Is this Sikh in the restaurant accompanied by Guru Gobind Singh ji? Is he fighting a dharam yudh? Or is he merely filling his belly with the nearest restaurant?  Please don't make a mockery of our puratan Singhs' sacrifices by comparing them to lazy Sikhs who eat khulla maas.
    • Seriously?? The Dhadi is trying to be cute. For those who didn't get it, he said: "Some say Maharaj killed bakras (goats). Some say he cut the heads of the Panj Piyaras. The truth is that they weren't goats. It was she-goats (ਬਕਰੀਆਂ). He jhatka'd she-goats. Not he-goats." Wow. This is possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard in relation to Sikhi.
    • Instead of a 9 inch or larger kirpan, take a smaller kirpan and put it (without gatra) inside your smaller turban and tie the turban tightly. This keeps a kirpan on your person without interfering with the massage or alarming the masseuse. I'm not talking about a trinket but rather an actual small kirpan that fits in a sheath (you'll have to search to find one). As for ahem, "problems", you could get a male masseuse. I don't know where you are, but in most places there are professional masseuses who actually know what they are doing and can really relieve your muscle pains.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use