On entering the ground floor of Gurdwara Baba Atal, situated to the south of the Golden Temple, one is surprised to see the glazed tiles fixed on it. During the renovation, the invaluable murals on the ‘darshani deori’ and ground floor of the nine-storeyed octagonal tower disappeared. However, as one climbs to the first floor of this 40-metre high building, the frescoes on the walls of this highest building of this holy city provide an enriching experience.
t of the devotees and artistes of Amritsar are ignorant about this great artistic treasure. The paintings on the walls depict the ‘janamsakhis’ of Guru Nanak Devji. Various murals show Guru Nanak Dev with his disciples.
Dr Kanwarjit Singh Kang was perhaps the first art critic to highlight the damage caused to murals at Baba Atal Sahib. Dr Kang had written, "The interior walls of the first floor are adorned with murals. Unfortunately, many of these have been obliterated beyond recognition and at present only 42 panels survive. A large series of paintings unfold, stage by stage, the life of Guru Nanak. The first painting in this series represents all the gods requesting the Almighty to send a holy person to earth to relieve it of the burden of Kalyuga".
Dr Sheharyar, a Punjabi poet and art critic, and Mr Brij Bedi, who had a chance meeting with each other, have highlighted the need of preserving this artistic treasure. Both have taken an initiative to write a book on the murals of Baba Atal Sahib and written to Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, and the SGPC to take necessary steps to preserve this cultural heritage.
Dr Sheharyar blames the SGPC for destroying the murals and frescoes at Akal Takht. Akal Takht was renovated after Operation Bluestar in 1984 by Baba Santa Singh. However, it was demolished on the orders of then SGPC President Gurcharan Singh Tohra and then the new building was reconstructed through ‘kar sewa’. In this process, the murals and frescoes were destroyed.{pagebreak}
He says that to mark the tercentenary celebrations of the Khalsa Panth, efforts should be made to ‘repaint’ the murals and frescoes with the help of the old paintings preserved by Guru Nanak Dev University.
Besides, though the Sikh masses all over the world are happy that the gilding of the Golden Temple was done by the UK-based Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewa Jatha, yet they allege that the original craftsmanship could not be preserved. However, members of the jatha claim that all efforts were made to preserve the heritage and that they have all records with them, including drawings taken before starting the gold-plating.
Mr Brij Bedi, who claims to be a descendant of Guru Nanak Dev, says that it is a matter of concern that murals of the first Sikh Guru at Baba Atal could not be preserved. He alleges that the entire painted area of Baba Atal was repainted in gaudy colours in the name of renovation in the seventies. Even though the Sikhs are celebrating the tercentenary of the birth of Khalsa, no efforts have been made to popularise the murals of Sikh shrines.
Interestingly, a resident of Pakistan who crossed the Wagah border at the time of the tercentenary celebrations, brought a letter of his grandfather, who had painted murals on the walls of Baba Atal before Partition, urging the SGPC authorities to preserve these murals. Apart from the paintings of Guru Nanak Dev, there are murals of martyrs, including Baba Atal.
Sikh scholars have also expressed concern that while renovating ‘bungas’ near the Golden Temple, the heritage was not preserved. These ‘bungas’ were constructed to give a ‘better look’, but the old design should have been preserved. Similarly, the murals and paintings of ‘deras’ near the Golden Temple are in bad shape.
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