Patiala varsity stops sale of ‘Mahan Kosh’

Gagan K Teja

Tribune News Service

Patiala, July 19

After SGPC president Kirpal Singh Badungar and other Sikh scholars demanded that the sale of “Mahan Kosh”, a Punjabi language encyclopaedia published by Punjabi University, be stopped as it allegedly carried various anomalies, the university authorities bowed to their pressure, stopping its sale.

The officiating Vice-Chancellor, SK Sandhu, has also constituted a five-member committee to look into the “anomalies”. Notably, the “Mahan Kosh” was penned down by Bhai Kahan Singh Nabha in 1930. The university later decided to translate this work into English, Punjabi and Hindi and spent Rs 2.5 crore on its publication. The university also recruited five employees, including translators and proof readers, for this work.

However, this didn’t go down well with various Sikh scholars, who believed that the work was not up to the mark. The university published over 20,000 copies of it in Punjabi, English and Hindi. This “Mahan Kosh” is available for Rs 1,350 despite a 50 per cent discount whereas the one sold by Language Department, Punjab, is merely available for Rs 375.

Notably, Major AP Singh, the great grandson of Bhai Kahan Singh Nabha, has been time and again raising these mistakes. The scholars are demanding the addition of 132-page appendix in the Mahan Kosh” besides the removal of all errors. — TNS