History
Golden Temple's Historic Doors Removed
NEWS REPORT
A NOTE OF CAUTION, from Jaswant Singh, Amritsar, Punjab:
The following news report should make us all vigilant to ensure that the kar seva is done promptly, efficiently, and in accordance with state-of-the-art preservation and conservation standards.
But even before we demand that the "experts" be real experts, not the usual suspects who do kar seva, I request the sangat to keep an eagle eye on the following issues:
1 None of the manuscript treasures looted from the Sikh Reference Library in the Golden Temple by the Indian troops in 1984 have been returned. No serious attempt has been made by the Sikh authorities to have them returned. Many of them have already found their way into the antique market-place, often sold page by page.
2 No public accounting has been done of the treasures of the Toshakhana since 1984. The current Sikh leadership has not gone public in assuring the sangat that nothing is missing - and if there is, what attempts have been made to retrieve them from the Indian government looters?
3 The historic doors are not only intrinsically tied to Sikh history and the sanctity of the Golden Temple, but they are priceless. Priceless antiques in India have the habit of getting replaced by fakes and then disappear.
All I am saying is that at a time when many in our 'leadership' have displayed mercenary tendencies and the willingness to kowtow to Indian government and right-wing Hindu interests, this extraordinary move to remove the doors at this juncture needs to be monitored constantly with eagle eyes. We need to be vigilant!
GOLDEN TEMPLE'S HISTORIC DOORS REMOVED
Hundreds of devotees converged at the Golden Temple complex today to take part in the kar seva intiated to remove and repair over 200-year-old, beautifully carved wooden doors of the Darshani Deodhi, the main entrance to the sanctum sanctorum, and install makeshift doors in their place.
The historic doors will be subjected to repairs and preservation by experts in a glass cabin in open view of the visiting devotees to the Golden Temple. Besides, the SGPC chief Avtar Singh has formed a five-member committee of top Sikh religious leaders to supervise the preservation work of doors.
Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh and the Head Granthi of the Golden Temple, Giani Jaswinder Singh, will supervise the work of the committee as its patrons. Since the repair of the historic gates of the Darshani Deodhi is a sensitive issue, particularly their preservation, the entire process will be recorded on micro film and will be subjected to video filming as a matter of record.
Meanwhile, Avtar Singh has sought to ward off confusion lingering among a section of the people and the media over the origin of the gates. They have asserted that the doors have nothing to do with the Somnath temple.
"Only a few people are trying to create confusion and even a wedge between communities. The Somnath temple's door-frame size is smaller, whereas the Darshani Deodhi's doors are bigger. The deodhi doors were presented by a Sikh family of Sursingh village during the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and they were carved by a Muslim artisan, Yaar Mohammed Khan. Moreover, it has been a long-standing tradition that no used artifact or article can be presented to the Golden Temple. Even a ‘Chandni' presented by Maharaja Ranjit Singh was rejected by the granthis of the time on the basis of this tradition and it was kept in the Toshakhana till 1984 when it got damaged during army attack."
Avtar Singh said the doors were in dire need of restoration as no repair was carried out on these doors since their installation.
The mammoth task of restoration of doors has been assigned by the SGPC interim committee to Baba Kashmir Singh Bhuriwale, who has been urged to ensure restoration of the gates at the earliest by a panel of experts. "Restoration is a difficult process as doors are studded with a fine carving of silver and ivory work, which has to be restored the same way it was made at the time of the making of doors," said Avtar Singh.
The kar seva to remove the doors started with the rendition of the paatth of Sukhmani Sahib by the Akal Takht Jathedar, in presence of the Sikh sangat, the Jathedar of Takht Patna Sahib, Giani Iqbal Singh, granthis of the Golden Temple, Damdami Taksal chief Baba Harnam Singh and others.
July 7, 2010
Conversation about this article
1: Hardev Singh (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), July 07, 2010, 10:06 AM.
The world has been living through Kaljug for several millennia. I have a feeling that Sikhs are just entering the era about now, in the current generations! Naam bovo bovo ... that's the only solution!