Visitors at the exhibition at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in New Delhi on Sunday. MANAS RANJAN BHUI
New Delhi, January 21
An exhibition depicting the origin and growth of Sikhism from the times of Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh is on at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib here.
Titled ‘From Rabab to Nagara’, two diverse musical instruments played on separate occasions, the exhibition highlights the grand plan of the founder, Guru Nanak, with each successor Guru strengthening the institutions introduced by him.
It has been organised by the National Institute of Panjab Studies, research wing of Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan to pay tribute to Guru Gobind Singh on his birthday. The week-long exhibition that opened on January 17 is attracting large number of visitors.
The mission of Guru Nanak to create a just social order was completed by Guru Gobind Singh with the creation of the Khalsa in 1699 in Anandpur Sahib and was announced to the beat of the ‘nagara’.
The exhibition displays rare paintings of the Gurus, historic shrines, relics and rare Guru Granth Sahib birs collected from different repositories in India and abroad.
Some of the rare paintings on display are relics of Guru Gobind that were brought back to India in 1966 from a private collection of Dalhousie family in England. Guru Gobind Singh’s hukamnamas, arrows, kirpans and the siropa which Guru Gobind Singh bestowed on the founders of the Phulkian family -- Bhai Rama and Tiloka -- now in the personal collection of former Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh are among the items on display.
A rare painting of Guru Tegh Bahadur, which is believed to have been painted by Ahsaan, royal painter of Shaishta Khan, Mughal Governor of Bengal, is part of the exhibition. According to a popular story, this painting displayed in a gurdwara in Dhaka was brought to India by late General JS Aurora after liberation of Bangladesh and was given to Capt Bhag Singh (retd) of Sikh Review.
There are also paintings of the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur, painted by Bashat Ullah and preserved with the royal family of Nabha. The exhibition also has a painting of Guru Gobind Singh painted by Bhagat Singh from California.
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