Above: A Hukamnama of Guru Gobind Singh ji, dated March 15, 1699, denouncing the masands.
History
From Past Perfect to Present Continuous:
Digitizing The Archives of Takht Patna Sahib
NEWS REPORT
The Panjab Digital Library (PDL) has recently taken up a project to digitize rare manuscripts available at Takht Sri Patna Sahib.
The collection at Patna Sahib has 96 manuscripts, along with many rare books. Patna Sahib is one of the five Sikh takhts (thrones of temporal authority and guidance) and is marked by its associations with the ninth and tenth Sikh Masters, Guru Teg Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh, respectively.
The main gurdwara complex commemorates the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh.
The contemporary manuscripts of Guru Teg Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh have their signatures as well.
The library has already digitized more than six million pages of rare literature, out of which one million is now available online on its website: www.PanjabDigitalLibrary.com
Digitization of the Patna Sahib archives has been on PDL’s agenda for some time.
Talking about the importance of the project, Davinder Pal Singh, Executive Director, PDL, says, “This is one of the major projects of PDL that we have been pursuing for many years. The signed and dated copies of Guru Granth Sahib are of immense significance. These copies are a valuable addition to PDL’s database for posterity.”
PDL’s mission is to locate, digitize, preserve, collect and make accessible the accumulated wisdom of the region.
December 16, 2011
Conversation about this article
1: K.J. Singh (New Delhi, India), December 16, 2011, 12:04 PM.
Great effort and in the right direction. That will be a very valuable service to the world - we shall ever be grateful for the safe-keeping of this treasure.
2: Harbans Lal (Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.), December 16, 2011, 2:46 PM.
All of us appreciate the work being done by the Panjab Digital Library (PDL). Now that PDL has taken up a project to digitize manuscripts from the times of Guru Teg Bahadar and Guru Gobind Singh, we expect to learn more about our Guru's teachings and other treasures they left for us. We know very little about the time Guru Gobind Singh spent at Patna Sahib and Hazoor Sahib, and his travels between them are very important in the annals of Sikh history. I suggest that PDL similarly take up the project of digitizing manuscripts available at Sri Hazoor Sahib, the documents discovered in Rajasthan and in the surrounding areas. I believe that we will find much more about the Guru's vision as well as his guidance for the future of Sikhi. Dr. Balwant Singh of Guru Nanak University was heading the team to research the Rajasthan archives which shed more light on the hukamnams and correspondence of Guru Gobind Singh. I also learnt that PDL is looking for financial support that is much needed. I hope the Sikhs in the diaspora will whole-heartedly support PDL. I searched some documents PDL has digitized and was impressed.