News & Update

Even though women are barred from performing kirtan at the Golden Temple, a team of women who now shoulder the responsibility of restoration of the fast deteriorating wall decorations within the Darbar Sahib. Hailing from different parts of India and belonging to different faiths, these women will soon bring these beautiful paintings back to their original glory. Known as fresco paintings, this style of painting is also called the “Sikh School of Art”. These paintings which adorn the main Darbar Hall and the walls of the staircases are done with natural colors and are renowned all over the world for the detailing and delicacy of the art.

These frescoes were originally painted in 1830 during the time Maharaja Ranjit Singh took on the gilding of the Darbar Sahib. They were done by artist Giani Sant Singh along with many muslim artists. Again in 1910 Bhai Gian Singh Naqaash worked on them for 32 years. The third restoration was done in 1962 wherein varnish was used and this caused many of these beautiful paintings to deteriorate further.

Women in the Golden Temple:

Six Women Team

Women1 (84K)Namita Jaspal, working with her team of 6 other women, is restoring these magnificent paintings to their original glory. They are using scientific techniques to preserve these age old traditions and to save them for posterity. Detailing out the process, Namita says that first they will remove the damaged parts and then using a fine brush fill in the areas needing attention treating it appropriately. She is gravely concerned since much of the artwork from the staircases upto the walls is already in poor condition.

The artwork is covering is almost 2,500 sq.ft of space on the walls and 4,000 sq.ft. space in the staircases. The women started working on the project in December 2013 and hope to complete this task in four months. The manager of the Golden Temple, Mr. Pratap Singh points out that the Golden Temple is the only unique place in the world where this style of art is still there. This time around, the SGPC plans to get it right and will cover the restored walls with a special glass covering.

Next time we visit the Golden Temple we would do good to remember to keep our hands off these beautiful walls.

Courtesy of www.bhaskar.com

KISUMU COUNTY, Kenya: Kisumu residents, who tore down a religious monument erected in the center of the lakeside city, claiming it was satanic, were overawed by the color, splendor, and solemnity, rolled out by members of the Sikh community celebrating 100 years of the Siri Guru Singh Sabha Temple in commemoration of which, the damaged monument was built.

Typical Sikh Procession
Typical Sikh Procession
The city was in a carnival mood, with prayers, song, drum beats, and trumpet melodies renting the air, as hundreds of Sikh faithful from all over East Africa marched from the historic temple in a road show like no other.

The procession was made up of trucks, tractors, and even tankers, bedecked with flowers, and religious colors, carrying revered Sikh leaders as it snaked its way through downtown streets to the Guru Nanak Darbar Temple in Milimani, and back.

Refreshments were available in plenty for everyone present.

Nominated MP Sonia Birdi graced the occasion, and delivered a message of reconciliation, and respect, among all communities for lasting peace.

She urged forgiveness, and remission, for the people who destroyed the monument that cost the community so much to erect, saying it takes divine intervention for anything to happen.

Ms Birdi praised Kisumu people for maintaining peace, and displaying respect for their Sikh contemporaries throughout the procession, and ceremonies.

She described the Kisumu event as significant by the way it united the Sikh community.

“This kind of unity ought to be maintained, and built on, for the greater good,” she said. “It is high time national education was conducted to enlighten the people on the differences between Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, and even Christians. To achieve this, we need mascots to preach the message of peace, love, and unity, as a prerequisite to prosperity.”

Charanjit Singh Hayer, the chairman of the centenarian temple, which still retains its original architecture, called for unity, and understanding, irrespective of religion, race, or culture.

He lauded the Sikh community in Kisumu for remaining strong in spite of challenges, such as the destruction of the historic monument.

A plaque at Kisumu’s Siri Guru Singh Sabha Temple located on Mosque Road indicates that S Attar Singh, whose title is given as Permanent Way Inspector of the Uganda Railway, laid the temple’s foundation stone on December 21, 1913.

The controversial Sikh statue was brought down “for the sake of peace” in the lakeside city. The residents had claimed they would welcome only sculptures of Kenyan heroes in the town. One of the Sikh, Bilayi Singh, said they would build a water fountain instead. He said the Sikh community worships one god, not the devil.

Source: www.Sikh24.com

We are pleased to introduce to our Sangat, an exceptionally blessed and gifted Painting Artist; a graced supporter & contributor of Sikh community, S. Inderpal Kaur, who expresses the ageless Eternal Truth, as enshrined in Holy Guru Granth Sahib, through the medium of her paintings in a delicate, subtle and creative art forms to help one discover the conscious and the unconscious self within.

About the Artist – On the personal front, Inderpal Kaur is a passionate personality having keen interest in understanding & contemplating Gurbani which fuel her thoughts, which she exquisitely incorporates into Art in her brain & then reproduces it creatively onto Canvas. “I am not an Artist, I Paint in my brain combining ‘Bani’ with Art“, she quoted during an interview with us, she also told us about how in the year 2001 when she went to Canada, she got exposure to people of different faiths and then developed deep interest in Inter-Faith and how she could identify a common Spiritual Element behind.

Inderpal Kaur, whilst describing about her work of art told the paintings are created in 3 sets of series known as Spiritual Journey, which has 6 Steps. Her work was much appreciated and bought by Canada’s Mayor – Suzan Fennel as well. The paintings are blissfully refreshing – besides being a visual delight they open one’s mind to the incredible power within to become great human being.

“I have a great interest in reading my religion and then there is no end as to the means of expressions one can use. I choose to conceptualize my understanding of Sikhism through imagining the hidden meanings and then get the essence crafted onto paper. It’s a blend of concepts handcrafted into painting carrying a world of Gurmat Gyan. I visualized these images to be painted on canvas by my artist. This whole project took 8-9 years of hard work to manifest. My mission is to inspire people for reflection on Gurbani to seek divine wisdom so in this new innovative endeavor I have made efforts in deeper interpretation of certain Gurbani verses that would help one with overcoming hurdles in one’s spiritual growth. The paintings along with rare visual delight purify the mind.” She said.

These painting are available in both English and Punjabi.

She releases her work under the Banner of UNISON CREATIONS, more details about her work can be found at www.unisoncreations.ca

Dhan Sikhi! Dhan Khalsa!

NEW DELHI, 5th Apr ’14: In a first-of-its-kind in the world, Hallmark India Pvt. Ltd., part of London-based Hallmark Group, has launched ‘The Sikh collection’ of 25 pure Swiss Silver Ingots (.999) layered in 24-carat gold of Sikh heritage stamps. To preserve the value for the collectors, the ‘Premium Edition’ with 25 ingots has only 3,700 complete sets each.

The limited ‘Sikh’ collection celebrates the rich cultural and spiritual legacy of the Sikhs. To ensure the highest quality, each Sikh Heritage Stamp Ingot has been crafted by the world’s finest artisit and Swiss craftmen.

“The ‘Sikh’ Collection is unquestionably one of the finest collections of engraved silver ingots that have ever been produced, unrivalled anywhere in the world. It has taken more than 40 months of intensive artistic endeavor, fine sculpture and skilled engraving to create the 25 Master Dies ready for minting,” said Mr. R.A. Wainwright, Chairman, Hallmark Group Limited.

“The stamps comprising “The Sikh Collection” have been selected from the Sikh Heritage Stamps which are with UK Punjab Heritage Association. They have been carefully chosen to reflect the most important personalities and moments in Sikh history representing the unique cultural heritage of Sikhs,” said Amandeep Singh Madra, Chairman, UK Punjab Heritage Association.

The collection commemorates the remarkable impact the Sikhs have had on 500 years of world history. Beginning with the lives of the gurus and the emergence of the Sikh empire, to their role in two World Wars and continuing contribution in modern times through every facet of life.

All ingots are minted in solid silver (2.2mm thick) and layered with pure 24-carat gold, and each stamp perforation is diamond cut. The collection showcases an ingot with the iconic image of Guru Nanak with his constant companions (the Hindu fan-bearer BhaiBala and the Muslim rebeck – player BhaiMardana), the exquisite handwriting of Guru Gobind Singh from ‘The AdiGranth Sahib’, a vibrant ingot based on 19th century painting which shows Guru Gobind Singh riding a majestically camparisoned piebald stallion, and one ingot shows a historic panoramic view of Harmandir Sahib to mention a few of them.

Placed in a handmade, lacquered wood collector’s chest with mother-of-pearl spatula to lift the ingots, each set has 25 complete fact cards and an collector’s album, a jeweller’s cloth, cotton gloves and a special hardbound edition of “The Golden Temple of Amritsar”. Each subscriber is issued an officially numbered ‘Certificate of Authenticity’, confirming the edition limit and the precious metal purity of each stamp ingot. Each ingot will vary in size and the price of each is fixed at Rs. 8,500 (inclusive of all duties and taxes).

“For more than three decades, Hallmark Group has dedicated itself to the reproduction of historic images as engraved solid silver ingots and ‘The Sikh Collection’ is a rare and treasured heirloom which needs to be preserved for future generations,” added Mr. Wainwright.

Source: www.prnewswire.co.in

The founder of Royal family of Malerkotla was Shaikh Sardar ud-din Sardar-i-Jahan, a Sherwani Afghan originating from Daraban. He received a jagir of 58 villages near Ludhiana and three lakhs of rupees as marriage gift, after marrying a daughter of Sultan Bahlol Lodhi of Delhi in 1454. The ruling family descends from Shaikh Salar ud-din the issue of this marriage.

The founder of the Malerkotla state was Bayazid Khan, who rose high in rank in the Mughal army. Saving the life of the Emperor Aurangzeb from an attacking tiger, he received high honours and recognition as an independent ruler. He was granted the right to construct a defensive fort, which he named Malerkotla, from which the state took its name. According to family tradition, he summoned Shah Fazl Chishti, a Sufi saint, and Damodar Das, a Hindu sadhu, to place the foundation stone, thereby also laying the foundations for the spirit of communal harmony and religious toleration that characterise Malerkotla.

Nawab Sher Muhammad Khan, Bayazid’s grandson, earned the undying gratitude and honour of the Sikhs. He had interceded with the Emperor in an attempt to stay the execution of Guru Gobind Singh’s two young sons, after their capture at Sirhind. Guru Gobind Singh on learning this kind and humanitarian approach profusely thanked the Nawab of Malerkotla and blessed him.

The spirit of communal harmony that pervaded the history of this little state endured even through the most difficult period during partition in 1947. As the rest of the Punjab went up in flames, and hundreds of thousands perished at the hands of their neighbours, Malerkotla remained an oasis of peace.

It was a warm, summer Monday morning. My dad was driving to the University of St. Thomas (St.Paul, MN) campus for my first day at journalism camp. My dad was looking for ways to get me out of the house to do something productive, and he found out about the ThreeSixty Introduction to Journalism Camp, a four week camp promoting diversity by teaching teenagers journalism. At first, I was incredibly reluctant to go. I wasn’t a big fan of writing, and I would rather do anything else than spend an entire day in a classroom learning how to write, especially after a long freshman year. However, I really didn’t have much of a choice, so I dragged myself to the classroom. When I first entered, I was pleasantly greeted by the three adults who I would be working with, including my editor for my first year with the program.

We spent the first half of the day introducing ourselves to our peers, talking about journalism and its role in the world, and talking about how journalism practiced. The first skill we were taught was the art of the interview. The only way to really learn interviewing was to actually do it, so we were asked to go out onto the college campus and ask anybody a list of questions. This, without a doubt, was one of my more nerve-wracking experiences. After wandering around a little, I finally managed to get myself to ask a normal looking guy for an interview. Honestly, that first interview did not go so well, but my interviewee was nice and made it a lot easier. And that was the beginning of a lot of amazing experiences.

During that four-week camp, I wrote two stories, a reported story and a personal essay. My first reported story, was about a church pastor, who worked to try to pull young people off the crime-ridden streets of North Minneapolis by using devotional Hip-Hop music. In addition to this, I started an essay about an experience of hatred that I had endured, post 9/11, as a young, eight-year old child and its effect on me and my understanding of people. After working through several drafts, and spending five or six hours editing that piece with my editor, Annie, my essay was submitted to the Minnesota Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest, where it won a third place award, while competing with other papers. The hard work had been rewarded and my days with ThreeSixty would keep improving.

I’ve written many articles for ThreeSixty on a wide range of topics from the seriousness of religion and politics to lighter topics like sports. My new editor, Tom, helped me hone my skills furthermore and he developed me into a better writer. The year after the intro camp, I participated in the faster paced advanced journalism camp. And, then I took a 20-hours per week paid internship with the program, in which I was able to interview women’s basketball star Seimone Augustus. The highlight came in January 2014, when I won a first place award at the Better Newspaper award, thanks to the wonderful help I received from my journalism mentors, the staff at ThreeSixty.

In my time with ThreeSixty Journalism, not only have I enjoyed myself, but I have learned a lot about the world. I reported about experiences I never would have imagined of, and I interviewed people I thought I would never talk to. I learned many skills such as being able to write fluidly and being able to talk to people without being too intimidated. In the end, my experiences with ThreeSixty has been a valuable life lesson about how we as individuals are so small compared to the immensity of the world.

Amolak Singh

2 April 2014, CHANDIGARH: India centre of Sikh American Chamber of Commerce (SACC) has started inviting applications from young entrepreneurs to develop digital apps for social development and make a difference in the lives of people, said Manipal Dhariwal, president, SACC, India. The World Summit Youth Award (WSYA) is a unique global contest which brings together young developers and digital entrepreneurs — under 30 years of age — who use internet and mobile technology to put the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) into action and make a difference, he added.

SACC India, he informed, has also recently been appointed as the networking partners for the UN’s World Summit Youth Award (WSYA) supported by the Unido, Unesco, and UNDP. Mohali-based IT entrepreneur Maninder Singh Bajwa, holds the distinction of being the India ambassador for WSYA programme for 2013-14, having been selected through similar global competition for his iScula educational platform for parents of school children.

The last date for applying for the award is June 15. Register Here – http://register.icnmdb.at/Youthaward/2014/