In 2019, a series of events occurred that led to a paradigm shift in the future conservation of Sikh heritage. At Gurdwara Sri Darbar Sahib in Tarn Taran, founded by Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji, there is a historic Darshani Deori gateway that was constructed during Sikh-rule by Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s grandson, Kunwar Nau Nihal Singh, who felt a deep connection to the sacred gurdwara. However, as with all buildings, overtime lack of surveillance and maintenance led to cracks developing in the structure. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee passed a resolution allowing the Kar Seva baba Jagtar Singh to “restore”, “renovate”, or “reconstruct” the Darshanj Deori. On 14 September 2018, a Jagtar Singh’s group attempted to topple the structure but local Sikh activists stopped them, saving it. By October of the same year, the resolution was withdrawn and the decision was put on-hold. However, that didn’t stop the zealous baba in his mission to destroy the historical building. The following year on the night of Saturday, 30 March 2019 at 9:00 P.M., a 300-man strong “army” of Kar Seva workers under Jagtar Singh armed with sharp-edged weapons, baseball bats, hammers, and sticks started toppling the structure, allegedly without the SGPC’s permission. For two hours, they continued their destructive rampage on the edifice ignoring desperate calls to stop their demolition from local Sikhs. The SGPC ignored calls trying to draw their attention to the issue. Finally at around 11:00 P.M., a police team led by deputy-superintendent Kawaljit Singh arrived and intervened, putting a stop to the Kar Seva destruction. Sadly, four domed-structured and other features located at the top of the building had been destroyed but the rest of the building was saved, for now. Local Sikhs demanded that a criminal case be put against the Kar Seva baba Jagtar Singh and warned that they would protest if this was not done. The manager of the gurdwara complex, Partap Singh, claimed to have called Jagtar Singh and told him to cease the vandalism but he did not lodge a police complaint. Sikhs were rightfully outraged at the wanton razing of their historical heritage by corrupt and ignoramus parties. The SGPC, seeing the anger of the Sikh Quom, decided instead to renovate and conserve the historical deori rather than demolishing it and rebuilding a new one. Before initiating the renovation work, a meeting was held in this regard and experts of Directorate of Cultural Affairs Archaeology and Archives Museum Punjab, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, local intellectuals and members of Sikh organisations assembled for discussion. The SGPC formed a three-member panel to investigate the issue. Partap Singh, manager of the gurdwara, was suspended for failing to prevent the dismantlement of the deori. All further gurdwara repair-related responsible were withdrawn from the Jagtar Singh-led Kar Seva group. An alliance of 30 Sikh organizations demanded an independent probe into the role of the SGPC and criminal action against the Kar Seva group. Surely, someone must be profiting from this affair, whether that means pocketing funds gathered under the guise of well-meaning Kar Seva from the Sikh community or other nefarious activities. The darshani deori would eventually be restored over the years following the incident by an archeological agency under the guidance of experts, without tampering with the original structure. This remains a critical moment in Sikh history: for the first time ever, the Sikh community stood-up and said NO, enough is enough. Too much has been lost, we will not allow more to be taken from us. The Kar Seva babas have destroyed 90-95% of Sikh heritage in Punjab within the past decades, the SGPC allows them to do so. Only we as Sikhs have the power to stop them. We have to raise our voice and allow ourselves to be heard! Staying silent and docile means more of our history will be stolen from us by these dushman, who prefer to pocket funds while converting Sikh history into mythology by wiping out all evidences of our past from this Earth. IMAGE CREDITS These photographs were sourced from various news articles and social-media posts documenting the incident. Two of the historical photographs (both from 1934) were provided by the Sikh History Research Centre of Khalsa College while another historical photograph was sourced from SikhMuseum.com. The colour photograph of the darshani deori taken prior to the destruction was sourced from the Facebook account of Rajwant Singh (Washington).

It's probably meant to be Harminder Sahib but was made by someone who never visited. It's clearly by a non-Sikh hence why they called it "Golden Temple" and back then there weren't many photos, so someone likely described Sachkhand and did their art like this. Also, I doubt they would have allowed someone to set up a canvas inside and start painting within Darbar Sahib so it's likely the person is painting from memory even if they did see it firsthand - was probably still cramped inside with everyone rushing around even back then. Or could be Delhi Gurdwara. Looks similar enough, likely a historian mixed up the two. Hope this helps ji!

I have a mystery to share with you all: What is this place depicted in this painting? This is a painting kept in the collection of the Himachal State Museum of a supposed gurdwara dating to ca.1875. Interestingly, B.N. Goswamy in his book (which actually uses this specific painting as cover-artwork) claims it is possibly the interior of the Darbar Sahib/Harmandir Sahib (“Golden Temple”) in Amritsar. However, it is immediately obvious that is not the case, as the layout/structure/architecture of the space does not resemble the interior of Darbar Sahib at all. So where could this place be? One can wonder. A possible identification made by the Twitter user Ontheperiphery9 is that this may be the interior of Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Delhi! This is an interesting suggestion. Whilst Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib underwent extensive Kar Seva renovations in the 20th century, one does find superficial similarities in the layout/architecture of the current gurdwara & whatever gurdwara is depicted in this historic painting. How about you, what are your thoughts/theories on the identity of this space? Does it perhaps still exist or has it been lost to time in the various renovations/remodellings of Sikh sacred spaces in the years since this painting was made? Image 1) Painting as displayed in the Himachal State Museum Image 2) Caption of the painting at the museum Image 3) Cover of B. N. Goswamy’s book, which uses the painting as cover-art Image 4) Caption provided in the book for the painting Image 5) Photograph of the interior of the modern Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Delhi, notice any similarities to the painting?