The Destroying Of Our Gurdwara Heritage

[Prem]

Why is it that Sikhs are so ignorant and vulgar and philistine? Read this website and see what has been done at some of our most important Gurdwaras and how we are destroying our own heritage.

It was sad day back in February 2005 that I visited the great land of culture and tradition; the Punjab. All set with my camera ready to research and preserve, and on my visit to the great city of Anandpur Sahib where Guru Tegh Bhahdur's severed head was brought back after his martyrdom in Delhi. On the cremation ground was built Gurdwara Sis Ganj under the supervision of none other than Guru Gobind singh the tenth Sikh Guru !

But the sad fact is that all the original artwork and effort of the original artists and beloved devotees is now just being "White Washed Away ", and we are already at point where its hard to distinguish one Sikh temple from the other.

Why? Because they all the look the same!

What do we do ?

Who do we speak to ?

How do we preserve any temples/items left ?

These are some questions that we need answers to quick, else in another 10/15 years and we shall have plain Sikh temples reflecting the mind set of the new generation, like a white sheet of paper "BLANK and BORING"

This is profoundly sad and disturbing. Such ignorance and no concern for art dating back to the time of our Gurus or the individuality of Gurdwaras. It seems we are once again our own worst enemies.

[Jai Tegang!]

it was heart-breaking seeing an old photograph showing the tearing down of the famous Kachi Haveli in Chamkaur sahib.

it's mind-boggling how they could even think of destroying the very building from which the most famous battle was fought with 40 Singhs going against a combined imperial army of 1million.

...only to replace it with those marble monsters, which all look the same, no individuality in the gurdwaras anymore.

it's actually pretty much too late since most of the historical gurdwaras have been destroyed already to be marbleized.

some more examples that come to mind...

-the thanda burj or "cold tower" that Mata Gujar Kaur ji and the sahibzadeys stayed at has been....detroyed!!!

-the spot where Baba Deep Singh ji's "sees" landed in Parkarma has been...demolished!

-the ancient forts around anandpur (like lohgarh) that Guru Gobind SIngh ji had built, have been.....destroyed!! and replaced with new ones.

[sikh supreme]

Why is it that Sikhs are so ignorant and vulgar and philistine?

Again prem you attack Sikhs.

I warn you do not try to malign the image of Sikhs you clearly are not Sikh possibly hindu punjabi.... why do you keep refering to Sikhs in such manor your hatered and intentions towards Sikhs is quite evident.

There was a character on sikh-history.com disscussion forms who had the same user id as you constently attacking Sikhs over Khalistan and admitted he/she was hindu punjabi.

I have had enough of you bad mouthing Sikhs in such manor if you wish to make a point do it without refering to Sikhs in such a vile way.

And yes Sikhs can be there own worst enemies in regards to many issues, including this one sad but true.

[kurtas]

That’s why these so called kar sewa wale baba need to be banned from doing any work. Systematically they have destroyed most of our heritage.

You would think they had shares in white wash (cement paint) companies and owned white marble quarries in Rajasthan. They are next going to attack the Gurdwara in Pakistan, in fact they have started.

We should never forget about what happened in 1984 at the hands of the state but these so called kar sewaks have single handily destroyed our heritage and we let them get away with it. If the state had done what these kar sewa wale have done we would be calling for heads to roll.

I urge you all not to give any donation to a kar sewa wala unless they are willing to give a written undertaking and pledge in front of Guru Maharaj Ji that they will stop destroying heritage through their misguided sewa. Remember if you donate to these destruction teams then you are contributing to the destruction of our heritage.

Look at the Europeans and their places of worship like the Sistine chapel. You do not see them getting Raj Singh Painters from Sangrur to do a shoddy whitewash job.

Who needs enemies when we have the kar sewa demolition squads.

[kurtas]

Again prem you attack Sikhs.

I warn you do not try to malign the image of Sikhs you clearly are not Sikh possibly hindu punjabi.... why do you keep refering to Sikhs in such manor your hatered and intentions towards Sikhs is quite evident.

There was a character on sikh-history.com disscussion forms who had the same user id as you constently attacking Sikhs over Khalistan and admitted he/she was hindu punjabi.

I have had enough of you bad mouthing Sikhs in such manor if you wish to make a point do it without refering to Sikhs in such a vile way.

158165[/snapback]

I do not see how Raj has attacked Sikhism in his post above. It is the kar sewa wale who are attacking and destroying Sikh heritage, go jump on their backs.

It is true we are ignorant and philistine when it comes to preserving our heritage. If we were not then the kar sewa wale would not dare do the things they have done and continue to do. Instead of stopping destruction our people say balle balle boyth sona concrete da Gurdwara banaya baba jagtar singh ne and hand over a bora of grain to his stooges who go around collecting.

[Jai Tegang!]

Again prem you attack Sikhs.

I warn you do not try to malign the image of Sikhs you clearly are not Sikh possibly hindu punjabi.... why do you keep refering to Sikhs in such manor your hatered and intentions towards Sikhs is quite evident.

There was a character on sikh-history.com disscussion forms who had the same user id as you constently attacking Sikhs over Khalistan and admitted he/she was hindu punjabi.

I have had enough of you bad mouthing Sikhs in such manor if you wish to make a point do it without refering to Sikhs in such a vile way.

158165[/snapback]

Yeah, tend to agree with this sentiment.

Prem, you said...

Why is it that Sikhs are so ignorant and vulgar and philistine?

That's another one of your blanket statements, covering ALL sikhs. Just like you used to accuse ALL sikhs of being guilty of female infanticide.

Start living up to your name and using a little bit of "prem" in your words. Try sayng the same sentence on a muslim board with "sikh" replaced with "muslim".

[sikh supreme]

Again prem you attack Sikhs.

I warn you do not try to malign the image of Sikhs you clearly are not Sikh possibly hindu punjabi.... why do you keep refering to Sikhs in such manor your hatered and intentions towards Sikhs is quite evident.

There was a character on sikh-history.com disscussion forms who had the same user id as you constently attacking Sikhs over Khalistan and admitted he/she was hindu punjabi.

I have had enough of you bad mouthing Sikhs in such manor if you wish to make a point do it without refering to Sikhs in such a vile way.

158165[/snapback]

Yeah, tend to agree with this sentiment.

Prem, you said...

Why is it that Sikhs are so ignorant and vulgar and philistine?

That's another one of your blanket statements, covering ALL sikhs. Just like you used to accuse ALL sikhs of being guilty of female infanticide.

Start living up to your name and using a little bit of "prem" in your words. Try sayng the same sentence on a muslim board with "sikh" replaced with "muslim".

158168[/snapback]

Exactly my thoughts... he/she raises some interesting topics for discussion which is all good, but then has a habit of always slipping some negative comments towards sikhs. Pathetic really.

[buddasingh]

Again prem you attack Sikhs.

I warn you do not try to malign the image of Sikhs you clearly are not Sikh possibly hindu punjabi.... why do you keep refering to Sikhs in such manor your hatered and intentions towards Sikhs is quite evident.

There was a character on sikh-history.com disscussion forms who had the same user id as you constently attacking Sikhs over Khalistan and admitted he/she was hindu punjabi.

I have had enough of you bad mouthing Sikhs in such manor if you wish to make a point do it without refering to Sikhs in such a vile way.

158165[/snapback]

Yeah, tend to agree with this sentiment.

Prem, you said...

Why is it that Sikhs are so ignorant and vulgar and philistine?

That's another one of your blanket statements, covering ALL sikhs. Just like you used to accuse ALL sikhs of being guilty of female infanticide.

Start living up to your name and using a little bit of "prem" in your words. Try sayng the same sentence on a muslim board with "sikh" replaced with "muslim".

158168[/snapback]

Interesting observations. Prem you do post in a rather peculiar manner what's up with that?

I was just reading the thread that Prem started posing the question regarding Canadian Sikhs having a reputation as gangsters thugs etc.

http://www.sikhsangat.com/index.php?showtopic=17842&hl=

What I found most interesting on an otherwise valid question was Prems opening words; "Alright, I don't want this to sound controversial, it is a serious question."... Well there was no reason that a Sikh need to consider it controversial. The most controversial part became the fact that you thought you might stir controversy.

You raise very relevant topics. You ask questions that need to be asked. However, you have the strangest approach in repeatedly speaking about Sikhs with what appear to be thinly veiled insults.

If you maintain this strange approach you will likely require a trusted member of the forum to verify your identity to retain any credibility here.

In fairness to Prem, any trusted members out here to vouch for our bro/sis Prem?

[asmlondon]

Back to the original issue.

Take a quick look at the front page of www.punjabheritage.org and you will see two new stories that illustrate the destruction of SIkh and Punjabi heritage.

The first is the regilding of the Drabar Sahib at Tarn Taran, where the Baba Jagtar Singh had originally whitewashed out the old sikh frescoes that date back to the time of Ranjit Singh and has more recently unvelied new garishly painted ones that come straight out of the pages of a "Hemkunt Press" comic book.

The second story speaks of the demolition of a haveli in Amritsar, some of the last architectural remains of the old city.

If you get a chance then look at the archive of stories - there are hundreds there, many are illustrated and again you will see what terrible condition Sikh heritage is in.

This destruction is happeneing with the unwitting support of the sangat. It is funded by Kar Seva - an honourable endevour which is now twisted into a commerical contract between Kar Seva Babas and the SGPC.

Aman

[kurtas]

I wonder when the quam is going to wake up and recognise the damage done by Jagtar Singh. It is not sewa he is doing but unwanted destruction of our heritage.

As ASM has pointed out it is quite obvious that he has replaced the original paintings with ones he likes. This is not restoration.

Just look at the picture below. These paintings are pretty modern and nothing like the originals.

The SGPC are also to blame for this, they as custodians of Sikh Gurdwara should document original art work and ensure that restoration follows the original methods and form rather allowing any picture to be put up.

If this is not stopped tomorrow we may have Jagtar Singh painting Andy Warhol type images of Sikh history over century old paintings. This man is not doing kar sewa he is stealing our heritage from us.