80,000 Extra Maharajh Saroops To Be Printed Per Year!

[AK-47]

Please make sure you read the link below ...

http://www.sikhsangat.org/news/publish/asi...s10102007.shtml

Now am I the only one shocked to hear that the printing press produces 40,000 Guru Maharajh Saroop's a year and that this number is to double in order to meet demand!?!?!!!

Maybe I am reacting the wrong way, but I know in my local gurdwara sahib there are approx 20 saroops in sachkhand. At any given time maximum of 5 saroops are parkash in the different darbar sahibs and lets say 2 or 3 are taken to homes for programmes. This means there are always around 10 saroops which are never used or at least 10 saroops in sachkhand at all times. So in this one gurdwara there are 10 more saroops then are needed.

Im guessing virtually all gurdwaras will have more guru maharajh saroops then they need in sachkhand ... so why do we need an extra 80,000 per year!!!!!!

It is no suprise that there is so much beadbi and disrespect done to guru jis saroops when they are so readily available!!!

I seriously think an international audit needs to be done by one of these sikh organisations, they should contact every gurdwara in the world and find out how many saroops exist, how many are bhirdh and need replacing and how many genuine new saroops are needed. I would bet we do not need 80,000 new saroops PER YEAR! Even if this audit didnt cover people homes it would reveal some information!

I remember when someone walked off with a saroop of guru ji and people reported seeing this guy walking down the street with the saroop on his head ... if nobody had seen him, nobody would have noticed a saroop missing as one singh asked the head granthi of the gurdwara sahib if he knew how many maharajh saroops there were .. he didnt have a clue!

This seems beyond a joke man 40,000 saroops currently printed ... and soon to double!!

Again sorry if i have taken this the wrong way ... but im just shocked!

Amritsar: The capacity of SGPC’s Golden Printing Press at Gurdwara Ramsar here is likely to be doubled soon. It supplies Sikh devotees all over the world with holy birs of Guru Granth Sahib.

The press prints less than 40,000 birs in a year while the demand is much more. Chief of the SGPC Jathedar Avtar Singh, who took up the matter with the state and centre governments to impose a ban on the publication and sale of the Guru Granth Sahib by private publishers and booksellers, has said the capacity of the press would be doubled shortly.

He said a new press would be established where holy birs would be published as per Sikh maryada. The process to publish the birs was lengthy since these were published keeping in view the Sikh traditions, he added.

True to the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib, which preaches universal brotherhood, the publication of the birs in the press is being looked after by the machine men and workers who are mostly non-Sikhs from Nepal, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, UP, New Delhi and other states. They are well versed in the Sikh traditions and never found violating maryada.

With recitation of ‘satnam waheguru’, the workers publish the birs round the clock in shifts. The offset press was imported from Germany at a cost of Rs 75 lakh in 1991. It prints on an average 5,000 copies annually.

The spirit of worship is best reflected in the fact that loose paper sheets (after printing) are covered with ‘romalas’ (the holy cloth). Then the holy books are wrapped in beautiful ‘romalas’ after their printing. Entry to the press is restricted. In the five-storey gurdwara, the press has been set up in the basement. The gurdwara was raised by fifth Sikh Guru Guru Arjan Dev in 1604.

Since Guru Granth Sahib is a living guru, “waste paper” at the press is kept with great reverence and then “cremated” at Goindwal Sahib as per Sikh traditions. All Hindu employees, working in the press, are non-smokers and do not consume liquor. Senior SGPC officials said press workers, having good experience in the field, were engaged at higher pay scales so that quality printing could be done at the press. The workers pledge to maintain complete maryada before their appointment.

The SGPC has got modified special bedecked vans to carry 500 volumes of Guru Granth Sahib to gurdwaras in the country without charging cartage fee.

[SarabhaPanjab]

Does seem excessive. Is there any Maryada governing what paper can or can't be used? maybe research into longer life paper, i.e. used for bank notes.

[AK-47]

Does seem excessive. Is there any Maryada governing what paper can or can't be used? maybe research into longer life paper, i.e. used for bank notes.

i think the paper they use is fine. its the mentality which is messed up.

Singh is lecister will tell you about the singh from taksal that came to do seva of birdh (elderly) saroops last year. In some of the saroops because they were used mainly for sukhmani sahib paths, those particular angs had become damaged. Now you can either replace and repair those angs (which is what these singhs went around the country doing) or you can jus replace the whole saroop because of a few worn ang.

Singhs at Goindwal sahib have seen these people doing saskar of perfectly fine saroops! They have also being doing saskar or puratan hand written saroops because people cant be bothered to look after and give them the appropriate care!

Its this NEW IS BETTER mentality which is causing us so much damage!

[machete]

Our nantion needs to understand the more respect we have for guru ji the more our community will flourish and recieve blessings. Its said there is noway that much demand needed, i reckon theres more than enough saroops around, but whose hands are they in??? Everything is to do with money man!! Sell outs make me sick!!

[Akhand Sabha]

where is this demand coming from?

[ManjitS]

paaji, Just to add Maharaj Ji's Saroops are always or should always) be rotated. The 10 Saroops that you mentioned will never sit for longer than say 10 days. After Sukhasan another will be prepared for the next Prakash.

Or atleast that is what should happen!

M

[BulldozerWarga$ingh]

The SGPC are just stoopid...

Why do we need 80,000 Saroops of Guru Ji when we can not even look after all of the saroops that have been done parkash of properly. There are gurdwara in England that you can come down on any days in the week days and unless there's Sukhmani Sahib Ji da Paath or Akhand Paath Sahib Ji paath going on, Guru Ji is left unattended, not even a single bhai doing chaur sahib. I went to a local gurdwara last week and there was like one bhai doing chaur sahib, paath and degh seva at once, jus by looking at the topic title i woz lyk waaaatt, first give the best respect you can to the saroops with us today and then think about printing some more...

I seriously think an international audit needs to be done by one of these sikh organisations, they should contact every gurdwara in the world and find out how many saroops exist, how many are bhirdh and need replacing and how many genuine new saroops are needed. I would bet we do not need 80,000 new saroops PER YEAR! Even if this audit didnt cover people homes it would reveal some information!

true

..btw is it just the SGPC allowed to print saroops of Sri Ad Guru Darbar and Sri Dasam Guru Darbar? (obviously Sarbloh Guru Darbar are only printed by Budha Dal) personally i dont (and im sure many others dont) trust the SGPC to do all this...if they can distort Sri Dasam Guru Darbar then i fear they...

[khalistan_zindabaad]

ppl hav lost the plot

[AK-47]

bulldozer has a very valid point, who are these people accountable to? In the past this committee tried editing maharajh's saroops as well but the sant samaj sorted them out back then, but who will do it if they decide to edit things now!?

and does anybody know how much guru maharajh saroop costs in punjab?

singh brothers are selling the steeks for 3000rps, so lets guess maharajh saroop is minimum 5,000 RPS mulitply that by 80,000 and you get 400,000,000 rupees, which divided by 80 (roughly £'s per rupee) and you get £5,000,000.

This 'business' will be worth £5 million per year to the SGPC ....!!!

[Gurbar Akaal]

Great tactic by the SGPC, shut down the Chattar Singh press, and then double their own printing because of the "demand"

I think this audit of all the Saroops in the Gurdwaras is a great idea, but no ones gonna do it.