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Expo on Guru Gobind Singh gives a message of equality

NEW DELHI:The exhibition on Guru Gobind Singh organised by the National Institute of Punjab Studies in Bhai Vir Singh Sadan gives a message of equality that is the theme of Sikhism.

Expo on Guru Gobind Singh gives a message of equality

Mahinder Singh, director, National Institute of Punjab Studies and Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, at a forthcoming exhibition on Guru Gobind Singh in New Delhi on Friday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal



Syed Ali Ahmed

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 5

The exhibition on Guru Gobind Singh organised by the National Institute of Punjab Studies in Bhai Vir Singh Sadan gives a message of equality that is the theme of Sikhism. The exhibition has 41 rare paintings on the life of Guru collected from different places even from foreign countries.

The exhibition has the rarest of rare picture of childhood of Guru Gobind Singh which has two pitchers -- one containing water and the other milk -- representing Hindus and Muslims. Guru as a child has put his hands together on both pitchers saying that both are equal to him. Another picture is of Guru Nanak Dev wearing cap with two Muslims – Bala and Mardana having beard and cap on their heads.

These are the pictures that seem to be the theme of the exhibition giving a message of equality.

The exhibition is part of celebrations of the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, that began from Patna Sahib with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, paying tributes to the Guru on January 5, 2017. Thereafter, various institutions at home and abroad paid tributes to the Guru in their own way.

Rare images of the relics of Guru Gobind Singh was brought for the first time from England in 1966, along with precious heritage of the Sikh Gurus in the collection of five Takhats; Victoria Memorial, Kolkata; Victoria and Albert Museum, London and other repositories, through LED translates. Relics of the Sikh Gurus brought from the Phulkian royal families of Patiala, Nabha and Jind, which include a majority of images taken from the personal collection of Chief Minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh, at his New Moti Bagh Palace in Patiala, are the foremost attraction of the exhibition.

The exhibition has two sections. The first section - 'Journey from Rabaab to Nagaara’ begins with a rare painting of Guru Nanak, taken from the Victoria Memorial, Kolkata, depicting Mardana on the Rabab juxtaposed, along with beat of the Nagaara in Takhat Kesgarh Sahib, where Guru Gobind Singh created the order of the Khalsa.

The second section depicts the development of Sikh religion from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh through two panels describing the growth of Sikh institutions culminating in the creation of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699.

“The rare painting of Guru Nanak displayed with Bala and Mardana reminds us of the halcyon days when such portraits were placed on mantel in the homes of the Nanak naamlevas (including Sikhs),” said director of the institute, Mohinder Singh.

The exhibition succinctly sums up the development of Sikhism under the Gurus with a quotation from historian Gokul Chand Narang, “…The seed which blossomed in the time of Guru Govind Singh had been sown by Nanak and watered by his successors. The sword which carved the Khalsa’s way to glory was, undoubtedly, forged by Gobind, but the steel had been provided by Nanak…,” said Mohinder Singh.

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