Parkash Purb: Artist donates 3 art pieces for holy town Sultanpur Lodhi

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Sultanpur Lodhi, November 18

As devotees have started converging in the holy town of Guru Nanak for the 552nd Parkash Purb celebrations, there is something new and amazing for them to watch.

The site is the Guru Nanak Art Gallery in Nirmal Kutiya, the dera of environmentalist Balbir Singh Seechewal. Just at the entrance of the gallery, famous artist Arpana Caur has brought in three pieces of art associated with Guru Nanak – replicas of his musical instrument ‘rabab’ which the guru’s follower Mardana used to play as he used to recite the bani, a hand holding a ‘mala’ used in prayers which is symbolic with the guru and the guru’s wooden footwear ‘Khadawan’.

The three pieces of fine art have been made by chiselling pure white marble. The work has been done so perfectly that on touching the khadawan one can actually feel the contours of the feet. All three pieces have been decked up by placing marigold flowers around them.

Says Gurwinder Boparai from Baba Seechewal’s team: “These solid pieces of art have been donated by the artist. She said she had got them designed from craftsmen of Rajasthan. She had planned to donate them at the time of the 550th Parkash Purb programme, but it took a lot of time to achieve that perfection level. So few days back, these art pieces were delivered to us”.

The Seechewal team had two years back set up Gurdwara Gurparkash Sahib in the Nirmal Kutiya compound at the basement of which the art gallery was planned to be set up. While the gurdwara, the seminar hall and a screen for showing documentaries has been ready for two years, the art gallery is slowly getting more pieces.

“All the pieces that we require to be kept in the gallery are a bit expensive. So it is taking little time to set up. We are setting up various items here which are connected with the history of the first Guru. Various sculptures, paintings, scripts etc which depict his teachings including those based on his lines Pawan guru pani pita and So kyon manda aakhiye, jitt jamme raajan. We are also partly using this gallery to exhibit the works being done by Baba Seechewal for the upliftment of environment of this holy town,” said Boparai.