In India at the time of Guru Nanak, there were many yogis. They lived alone, they did not marry, nor did they work for their living. They lived in meditation caves, wore coats made from many rags patched together (to indicate poverty) large earrings (to indicate that they heard only the Word of God) and they carried a begging bowl, a cow horn, a purse, a deerskin (for meditation) and a walking staff. With their unwashed and uncombed matted hair and their bodies covered with gray funeral ashes (to remind themselves of the constant presence of death) they practiced their yogic disciplines and lived apart from the villagers and common householders. They begged for their food, and ate only what they were given.
Guru Nanak’s meeting with the yogis is recorded in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib as the "Siddha Gosht". There are many shabds in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib where the yogis are addressed. The main purport of all these verses is that many who lived the lifestyle described above, were not true yogis at all (that is, one who is united with God… one who lives in a state of Union) but simply people caught up in their own rituals, self-righteousness, and pride.
Continue reading ‘The Yogi’
This morning I realized that the rest of the world was going to be celebrating valentines day. This holiday (like most) is not really religious (for most people at least) but a day when the guys are expected to do something sweet and nice for the girls in their life (wife, mother, sister, etc). So while I was meditating this morning I thought of making something creative to celebrate this day as a Sikh. I got excited and couldn’t hold myself back as the computer drew me to it like a magnet to iron. The result was three different wallpapers which you can see and download below. I hope you like them :)
Affirmations in Red
The first is in the theme of valentines day (red and hearts) with some different affirmations repeated in the background.
Continue reading ‘Wallpaper Celebration’
This past weekend we celebrated and remembered the life of SSS Harbhajan Singh Khalsa (aka: Yogi Bhajan). This birthday event has always been a joyous occasion and serves to bring many people together. It is especially a great event for inviting the local community to learn more about us as Sikhs. There are normally quite a few political figures and local citizens who have a chance to get to know us better.
This year the Langar hall was transformed into a beautiful gallery for the event. There were all kinds of pictures, art work, jewelry, stories, videos, magazines, etc. showing the history of Sikh Dharma in the west and the life of Yogi Bhajan.
The entry way to the gallery with the "introduction"
Continue reading ‘Remembering a Shining Light’
It seems like that in the old days of India many people were into art, architecture and other creative skills. For whatever reason less and less people seem to be interested in the arts. I remember when I was in second class/grade the teacher asking all the kids: "What is your father", and the kids would pretty much have one of a two answers; "My father is a business man", or "My father is a doctor". Gone are the days of the fine artisans and craftsman. Everyone in their goal for survival, success or wealth have tried to follow some business path that they thought would bring the most money. I’m sure the modernization and globalization played a part in all this, but I don’t think that is the whole picture.
I can only speculate on the reasons for these changes, however there are certain things that I think have discouraged art within the Sikh community. Within many circles of Sikhs any portrayal of the Sikh Gurus in art has been frowned upon. I suspect that this happened as a result of Hindu influences and some people "worshiping" pictures as if they were the Gurus. This same logic of not portraying the Sikh Gurus in art also discourages any visual storytelling of Sikh history. All of the recent animations/cartoon/videos have all avoided showing any of the Gurus. Imagine watching a whole movie about Guru Gobind Singh and never seeing him in it!? I agree that there are issues in how to respectfully and accurately portray the Gurus but that shouldn’t be a reason to not try. I think there can be a balance that can work. One has to look at the positive and potential negative things, and look at the overall picture. I don’t think there is ever a perfect situation, but I think doing nothing or just avoiding the issue can potentially be more of a dis-benefit to Sikhs.
Continue reading ‘The Taboo of Sikh Art’
One of the things which I have griped about for many years is the lack of consciousness about preserving the art and history related to Sikhi in India. I feel that much of the times either the management of the Gurdwaras in India has become so focused on other things, or they are not cultured enough to understand the value of preservation of our History.
One particular area which I have seen no attention to was these beautiful fresco paintings which are all over the walls of the first few floors of Baba Attal Sahib Gurdwara in Amritsar. I remember photographing most of the paintings in the late 90’s and they were in decent condition. Then every consecutive visit to Amritsar I would visit the Gurdwara and see the paintings. Over the years I have seen them be neglected and deteriorate. I was shocked in recent visits to see all the paintings on the first floor destroyed and replaced with funky green bathroom tiles (with a khanda on it)…or totally whitewashed as if that made it nice. It’s sad to see this happen and realize that the people responsible for these things don’t see any issue with this. Maybe people in Punjab these days are not educated enough to appreciate and value art and cultural things (other than Bhangra). Maybe this is just the management, but I would hope that the locals especially would get involved with preservation.
I just saw an article about this issue on the Punjab Heritage website and was grateful to see that others are seeing the same issues and hoping to bring awareness to Sikhs. It is important that we realize what is at stake and speak out to the SGPC or whoever does these things to create a change. They need to realize that this is not right and unless we voice ourselves many of these historical works of art and places will be gone forever.
To read about this issue check out the news article from PunjabHeritage.org which shows pictures and outlines some of the issues. If you are visiting Punjab I hope everyone will take the chance to bring up this issue with SGPC and see what they say.
During my 11 years in India I took quite a few pictures of the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) and other Sikh related things. I used to get people asking me all the time how they could order copies. I eventually decided to setup an easy way to make some of my photography available online to purchase, so that it didn’t take a lot of my time.
I started with a gallery of my photos but then the project grew. I realized that there were not many places you could see Sikh related art online. There did not seem to be a lot of support to artists who created Sikh art in this modern time (partly because of the stigma and association with idol worship). I decided that I wanted to help feature other Sikh artists and show their work; In hopes that it would encourage others who are artistic to use their creativity to make inspirational works of art.
Art is an expression and can be very beautiful and inspiring. We should encourage it and support those who are artistic. Art can come in many different forms (not just paintings/pictures). In the times of the Guru’s there many talented artisans. These days they seem scarce, or at least use that creative energy in other ways.
I get frustrated when I am in India and see some of the art in the Gurdwaras that is not treasured. In the Baba Attal Sahib Gurdwarain Amritsar (just next to the Golden Temple) there were some really beautiful old fresco paintings on the ceiling and walls of the first and second floor. I took pictures of them all years ago and in my recent visits I was sad to see how they had deteriorated. 
The paintings on the first floor were totally trashed (removed) and are no longer there. In there place are cheap white bath tiles with Khanda on them. Definitely 100’s of steps backwards artistically. There are still some paintings on the second floor, but they are in bad condition. Worse every visit I see them. What to be done? I guess we need to train the Gurdwara management to treasure and take care of this art. It’s our heritage and history.
If you are an artist and have modern Sikh related art (or know someone else who does) I would love to see some of it…and possibly have you as part of the SikhPhotos.com gallery.
If you want to look/purchase photo prints of Sikh Art/photos, visit the web gallery at: http://www.sikhphotos.com
Ps. Coming soon! Some new beautiful original oil paintings of the Golden Temple on canvas, based on some of my photography. The first one is pictured to the left. I’ll be selling the original 24"x36" inch oil painting and then a limited number of Giclée canvas prints (which will look almost identical). If you are interested contact me and I will let you know of the pricing and availability (probably at the beginning of Sept. when I get back from the UK).
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