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Coffee table book with focus on teachings and travels of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh Faith


Making positive contribution to 550th anniversary of Guru Nanak
Jagtar Singh

At the time when the celebrations of 550th anniversary of Guru Nanak are embroiled in unnecessary and petty controversies,  there are people who are making positive contributions.
The basic issue is not in which function President Ram Nath Kovind or Prime Minister Narendra Modi would participate but that of spreading the message and teachings of Guru Nanak. Guru Nanak is not a divisive figure as is made out from the cacophony being raised by these political leaders.
Guru Nanak symbolises the entire cosmos, not confined to any region, ethnicity, religion, caste or creed. He is timeless who rises above the perception of a worldly Guru.
This thought of  universality of Guru Nanak has been focussed in the coffee table book ‘Kal Taran Guru Nanak Aiya….Guru Nanak Devji: Life and Main Gurdwaras” by eminent Sikh scholar Dr. Roop Singh.
The message of Guru Nanak has been summarised in the first chapter followed by the places visited by him during his long journeys. He interacted with cross section of people during that people. He travelled upto Mecca in Saudi Arabia on one side and Chittagong on the in Bangladesh on the other, Tibet in the north and Karnataka in the south. Most of these visits have been commemorated by gurdwaras built by his followers over the years.
The book reasons as to why the birth of Guru Nanak is not ‘Janam Din’ but ‘Parkash Purab’. The use of this terminology by Bhai Gurdas is rooted in timelessness of Guru Nanak. Guru Nanak is not a ritual to which his celebrations are being confined.
Obviously, the narration of gurdwaras begins with Nanakana Sahib from where Guru Nanak appeared in the world (born in common parlance).
Nothing can be more ironic than the fact of Sikh religion having become victim of partition in 1947. Nankana Sahib, the place of birth of Founder of the Faith, is in Pakistan where now Gurdwara Janam Asthan stands. Punjab has paid the cost of partition at several levels, not just the unprecedented loss of life and property.
Despite tense relations between India and Pakistan, thousands of devotees of Guru Nanak from all over the globe visit Nankana Sahib every year.
The town has several other gurdwaras associated with Guru Nanak in Nankana Sahib that include  Gurdwara Bal Leela, Gurdwara Patti Sahib, Gurdwara Kiara Sahib and Gurdwara Tambu Sahib.
It was Emnabad where he raised his voice against state repression symbolised by the Babur regime. This place is important at yet another ideological level so far as the thought is concerned. He opted to stay with Bhai Lalo, the man who used to earn his own living, rather than the money bags represented by Malik Bhago.
The other gurdwaras whose details though in brief in Pakistan that have been focussed include Gurdwara Sacha Sauda, Chuharkana, Gurdwara Panja Sahib, Hassan Abdal (where he raised his voice against monopolisation of natural resources by the rich and powerful) and Gurdwara Babe Di Ber. (according to one account the gurdwara liberation struggle was launched by the Sikhs from this very place culminating in the formation of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in November 1920 that acquired statutory status in 1925).
The account of Sikh shrines in Pakistan ends with Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib where Guru Nanak Guru Nanak gave practical shape to the model for the humanity based upon egalitarianism and universal brotherhood while rejecting divisions of caste, creed and regions.
Pictures of most of the gurdwaras in the sub-continent find place in this book. Many of the gurdwaras in other countries still reflect Sikh art and architecture unlike in India where marble monsters have replaced the old structures which should have been preserved.
Most of these gurdwaras were rejuvenated or constructed during the Sikh rule under Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
It is pertinent to mention that Gurdwara Sis Ganj, Rakab Ganj and several others in Delhi were constructed by General Baghel Singh when he unfurled the Khalsa flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

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