At Gujranwala in Pakistan, my destination was the mansion of Mahan Singh at Purani Mandi where Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the lion of Punjab was born. As the mansion is accessible only by foot, we moved through an alley via a crowded fish market to arrive at a dead end. Many...
In the market at Muzaffarabad in Pakistan Administered Kashmir, as we were parking the car, a man had approached and asked in Punjabi, “Sardar ji, what brings you to Muzaffarabad?” Through our conversation, I had gathered that he hailed from a nearby village. Being aware of the vibrant Sikh community...
Excerpts from the brochure on ‘THE SIKH LEGACY IN PAKISTAN’, hosted by ‘Pama Peel Art Gallery Museum Archives’ in Toronto from April – July 2018.
In the map are pinpointed, the 126 cities/villages across Kashmir, Baltistan, North-West Frontier Province, Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan that are covered in the two books entitled “LOST HERITAGE The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan” and “THE QUEST CONTINUES: LOST HERITAGE The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan”.
Indian subcontinent gained Independence in 1947 from the colonial rule, leading to the annihilation of Nanak’s appreciators from the Indus basin. Yet, in the hall of the abandoned Arambagh Gurdwara in Karachi (Pakistan), in a framed canvas picture, Guru Nanak sits awaiting! Photographed in Feb 2017, during the research for...
During a visit to the ‘Gurdwara Gali’ in Abbottabad (Pakistan), at a toy shop, peering at the decrepit Gurmukhi panel above the gate, I could read ‘Gurdwara Shri Guru Singh Sabha’. In that moment of intense gaze, I imagined my maternal grandparents visiting this site for their spiritual fulfilment. Since...
“THE QUEST CONTINUES: LOST HERITAGE The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan”, the sequel book explores Sikh legacy in 90 cities & villages across Sindh, Balochistan, West Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan Administered Kashmir. It’s inception started from a field research in Jan-Feb 2017 and by the time it is delivered by...
Descending from 19,000 feet to 12,000 feet, over a length of 70 km, Siachen glacier (“land of wild roses”) is the worlds highest battleground since the year 1984. India controls its entire glacial length, adjoining peaks and the three passes, which are the gateway between Karakoram and Ladakh. On...
Not all who wander are lost! Hundreds of human skeletons, some with frozen flesh attached to them, can still be found around Roopkund (16,500 feet), a remote glacial lake in the lap of Trishul massif in Himalayas. The presence of these skeletons was first discovered in 1942 by the Himalayan...
Kashmir, the land of shawls, snow and sun, Was being eaten by Afghans like a bun. excerpt from “History of Sikhs (Vol V)” by Hari Ram Gupta A little known fact is that if not for the ambition of Maharajah Ranjit Singh (Lion of Punjab, who ruled from 1799...
