Phase II of Virasat-e-Khalsa to be opened soon

Arun Sharma

Tribune News Service

Anandpur Sahib, October 14

The second phase of Virasat-e-Khalsa will be opened by next month, according to Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister Sohan Singh Thandal.

While the 14 galleries in the first phase of the museum depict Sikh history from Guru Nanak’s era to the installation of Guru Granth Sahib, the 13 new galleries, constructed at a cost of Rs 71 crore, will showcase the subsequent eras, including the times of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur and Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

The new galleries will have a combination of handicrafts, paintings and animatronics (the technique of making and operating lifelike robots) with the use of ultra-modern technology.

In the second phase, the first gallery — christened as ‘Communion with God’—- is a museum highlighting the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib. In the section ‘Rimjhim barse Amritdhara’, Gurbani will be presented in three languages — Punjabi, Hindi, English.

At a gallery dedicated to the Misl period, visitors would be able to watch automated mannequins of Sikh warriors with robes and armaments used by the respective Misls.

One of the galleries is dedicated to the coronation ceremony of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his court. Others are dedicated to martyr Bhagat Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Master Tara Singh and other political and religious Sikh leaders. The Amritsar town in old times has been showcased in the section ‘Revival of Punjab’.

The last gallery of the second phase, christened “Nanak Naam Chardi Kalan Tere Bhane Sarbat da Bhala”, throws light on the philosophy of Sikhism.