Amritsar school teacher uses art works to promote harmony

Neha Saini

Amritsar, June 11

If art has no language, then an artist has no religion. Amritsar-based Baljinder Singh Mann’s latest creation, a model of Shiv Linga made by toothpicks, is an interesting reminder of how art can be a positive social stimulus. Mann has been creating miniature as well as innovative art works by using toothpicks as a medium.

This recent model of Shiva Linga, created by using 9,981 toothpicks took 20 days to complete and has entered the book of Unique World Records, in the category of creative art. According to the digital registry of Unique World Records, it is a world record book of Indian origin and a reference book published annually, to highlight the extraordinary out of ordinary.

Mann who is also serving as a teacher at Government Middle School, Gumtala, Amritsar, shared that the model weighs 846 grams and is 7.5 inches in width and 10 inches in height. “Since I work with toothpicks, the structure is delicate as they are glued together to form a shape and structure. I had applied for the record last year and after months of evaluation, it was chosen under the creative art category,” said Mann.

Many of his pieces have been celebrated, won awards on the national and international stage, embodying the vision of the artist while staying true to his roots as a Punjabi and as an Indian.

“Recently, a lot has been said about Punjabis, especially Sikhs, and I wanted to bust this myth and misconception being spread by a few that we seek to promote only our own religion by creating an art work that symbolises communal harmony. I am a Sikh, a Punjabi, but we are Indians first. We hold langar seva on Gurpurab as well as Shivratri,” he said.

In 2020, he had created a 470 feet long strip of Tricolour using 71,000 toothpicks. His interesting and unique creation stood out for its sheer detailing, as he has painstakingly glued 71,000 toothpicks on a delicate strip of paper. Before this, he had created a portrait of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and a souvenir to mark the 550th Parkash Purb of Guru Nanak Dev using toothpicks. He holds seven world records till date for his creations.