Sikh Art and Culture Being Destroyed
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.
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how the hell can someone replace art with toilet tiles!? lol these dudes got too much time on their hands and money!
I’m happy to read that pictures were taken, Maybe the destoryed worked could be redone by a fresco artist sensitive to the style. Of course it would be a major undertaking. What are they thinking?
S. Amrik Singh Chatha of the Sikh Heritage Foundation recently got a sewa award from GGSF (Washington). This organization has the proper background and authority to help preserve Sikh art and culture.
These sewadars of the Panth know a lot of high profile people including Senator Hillary Clinton whom they met recently. According to a news report – among other things, Senator Clinton was asked to support Indo-US nuclear deal which is a major foreign policy issue not only for the Sikhs but the entire world. Art can flourish in an environment of peace, prosperity and nuclear inspections.
If Sikh art and culture comes on the radar screen of such influential people – there is definitely some hope. I pray to Waheguru for wisdom.
SAT SHRI AKAL!!!
U R VER IGNORANT PEOPLE. U DONT KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING IN PUNJAB.ACTUALLY SGPC AND GOVT. OF PUNJAB THESE DAYS IS ON MODERNISATION DRIVE. FROM BREAD(ROTI) MAKING MACHINES TO TOILET FRESCO TILES. S.G.P.C IS TRYING TO MODERNISE EVERYTHING.
THEY HAVE MANY NEW PROJECTS ON TABLES LIKE “PRASAD INJECTING MACHINE”,”AUTOMATIC GURU GRANTH SAHIB READER”, “G.P.L.S.M (THAT IS:- GAS PROPELLED LANGAR SEVA MACHINE)”,”L.H.D.S (THAT IS:- LANGAR HOME DELEIVERY SERVICE)” ETC.
THIS IS JUST TIP OF ICEBERG.EVEN RECENTLY THEY HAVE CALLED SOME ARCHITECTS FROM EUROPE WHO ARE DEVELOPING PLANS FOR CONVERTING THE GURUDAWARA STRUCTURES TO SKY SCRAPPERS. THESE WILL HAVE ULTRA MODERN FACILITES EVEN GURDWARA REST HOUSE WILL BE HAVING DIFFERENT SUITES EVEN A PRESIDENTIAL SUITE(SGPC PRSIDENT) ETC.
ALL THIS COMES UNDER THE MEGA MISSION OF S.G.P.C AND GOVERNMENT OF PUNJAB NAMED “SELF DEMOLATION AND SUCIDAL MISSION 2006”.
FORTUNATLY EVEN I HAVE BIN PROVIDED A PROJECT BY S.G.P.C, DUE TO DEARTH OF FUNDS WITH S.G.P.C AND GOVT. OF PUNJAB THEY HAVE DECIDED TO AUCTION FOR SALE SOME OF THEIR MEMBERS ON SALE, EVEN S.G.P.C PRESIDENT “AVTAR SINGH MAKKAR” AND “CHIEF MINISTER CAPTAIN AMRINDER SINGH” R ON SALE.
BUT PLZ HELP ME PEOPLE THE HIGHEST BIDDER I HAVE GOT FOR BOTH OF THESE IS PROVIDING ME WITH ‘1 DOLLAR’ BUT ALONG WITH THAT HE IS ASKING FOR ‘INSURANCE COVER’.SO PLEASE VISIT MY SITE WHICH IS http://WWW.PLZBUYS.G.P.CMEMBERS.COM. I APPERICIATE IF SOMEBODY CAN PROVIDE 2 DOLLARS FOR BOTH OF THESE.
LATEST NEWS::”GURU MUSTUK BAIJI” IS GIVING 1 DOLLAR 98CENTS(HIGHEST BID TILL NOW).PEOPLE BUY THEM BEFORE THEY ARE SOLD OUT!!!!(Baisakhi dhamaka).
THAT WAS A JOKE!!!!!
SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!ITS TIME TO WAKE UP!!!!!
I THINK TIME HAS COME TO DO SOMETHING ,TEACH PEOPLE SOME LESSONS.ITS HIGH TIME NOW. THE WAY THE THINGS R HAPPENING SIKHISM WILL BE AN EXTINCT RELIGION.
FOR HOW MUCH TIME WE R GONNA WASH DIRTY LENINS OF THE POLITICIANS AND LEADERS.THESE PEOPLE HAVE GONE OUT OF THEIR MINDS, I DONT KNOW WHAT THE HELL THEY R UPTO.ALONG WITH THAT MAJORITY OF PEOPLE IN PUNJAB DON’T WANT TO EVEN PRESERVE THEIR IDENTITY SO I CANT EXPECT THEM TO PRESERVE THEIR HERITAGE.
IT IS A REALLY SHAME ON US THAT WE ONLY KEEP ON SPEAKING NEVER EVER TRY TO DO ANYTHING.
READ THE HISTORY AND U WILL FIND THAT THOSE WHO DESTROYED THEIR HERITAGE, VALUES AND IDENTITY TIME HAS DESTROYED THEM.
ONLY PEOPLE WHO CAN SAVE OUR GLORIOUS R THE YOUNG SIKHS(YOUNGIES) LIKE U AND ME.BY ELEVATING OURSELFS FROM EGOS AND SELF INTERESTS ETC. WE CAN COME TOGETHER TO SAVE OUR HERITAGE OUR BACKGROUND,
I DONT WANT OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS TO ASK US “HEY WERE U WEARING BANGLES WHEN PEOPLE WERE DESTROYING UR HERITAGE IN FRONT OF UR EYES????.”
ATLEAST WE CAN GENERATE SOME FUNDS BY CONTRIBUTING AS MUCH AS WE CAN SO THAT WE CAN ARRANGE SOME ARTISTS AND PEOPLE FOR PRESEVING THESE MONUMENTS.PLZ COME TOGETHER ONLY WE HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE OUR OWN FUTURE NOBODY SHOULD MESS UP WITH OUR HERITAGE!!!SO LETS KICK SOME … !!
It is right to say that, “Those who destroyed their heritage, values and identity time had destroyed them�. But to say “the way the things r happening sikhism will be an extinct religion� is absolutely not fair.
I don’t think that our Guru Sahiban gave us such a week religion that will become extinct with time. I agree that a lot of Sikh history has been lost due to not having documented in the past and there is a lot that need to be done to preserve what ever is left over. But being a Sikh of our Satguru, Dhan Dhan Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee Maharaaj, it is wrong to even think that Sikhism will go extinct.
As far as funds are concerned S G P C does not have to go anywhere to get help. Sangat itself contribute so much that they can take up any restoration project and can pay it by sangat donations. But as seen in the past, S G P C officials don’t manage the finances too well and cannot differentiate between Sangat’s donations and their personal finances.
Anon: what do Sikhs gain from Indo-US nuclear deal? Why are reps of Sikhs working for this deal?
Sandip Singh,
Sikhs need goodwill and friendship to improve their image. The Panthik sewa is based on quid pro quo. If you support India, India will support you. This is how it works:
‘A’ gives an award to ‘B’ and ‘B’ gives an award to ‘A’. Then ‘C’ joins in. He gives an award to both ‘A’ and ‘B’. If this cycle continues long enough – a time will soon come when everyone will have at least one award. This is a win-win situation. Imagine a kaum whose every member is a leader of some sort and has either a medal or an award. A perfect example of sarbat da bhala and love for God’s creation.
When i visted Bangla Sahib in 2002, the museum photogrphs had been white washed. some of those pictures were of Raja Ranjit Singh and his general Hari Singh Nalwa. These are first ever photographs taken in India, beleive me these are photographs. And, what do you think of TV cameras with flood lights doing to meenakashi? I was not allowed to take pictures inside, go figure why? Why do think none of the gurudwaras reflect architecture to support the historic events related to it? It’s all because of we’ve dumb and dumbers at the helm of our committees.
I remember exploring ruins of old fort walls in Anandpur Sahib as a youth. Several old Nihang Singhs taught us about what went on in various areas during the Guru’s times. I went back in 1999 and was heart broken to see these old wall removed, the Nankshahi bricks scraped away and thrown in piles behind buildings, new pavement and vehicle access in areas where it never used to be… I can go on and on…
I try to stay in Chardi Kala but there is a place for justifiable fury. These idiots have no brains in their head and when I see the damage and tasteless, artless, soulless “improvements”; really it is very very frustrating. Either they are well meaning but extremely ignorant or they are deliberately wiping out our heritage. Perhaps we have both.
In the US in almost any small city you can’t even build a house with a design that in not in harmony with the neighborhood, and here we have historic heritage that is sacred to 20+ million people and any bumbling workman can paint over it or knock it down; losing it forever.
They demolished the room where Guru Teg Bahadur meditated before becoming Guru …I really can’t even begin to list here all of the things that have been destroyed.
Something must be done. Hukamnamas should be issued. This is something that requires immediate action on a grass roots community level. The corruption and power mongering nitwits at the top haven’t a clue. Lets work with them respectfully but forcefully and change this somehow.