Virasat E Khalsa – Where Religion and Politics Joined Hands

While the world went on with its regular schedule, Nandpur Sahib saw something different. The government of SAD-BJP opened the very talked about “Virasat-e-Khalsa“. This endeavour was opened on Friday. The Five Takht of Sikhism joined together with the main priests co-operating to dedicate the Virasat-e-Khalsa to religion. This is an effort to trace the whole journey travelled by the Sikh gurus from birth. From the time of Guru Nanak to the time of Guru Gobind Singh’s rule, this is a great tribute to the efforts taken by these Gurus and the sacrifices they have made.

All major personalities from the political and the religious arena joined to meet here in this single pedestal while the guides of the public like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar walked along with Nitin Gadkari, the national president of the BJP party. Asa Ram Bapu the famed Sadhu also came in a nd he joined Vaiko from the State of Tamil Nadu. It was a heartening sight to hear Asha Bhosle sing the “Mere Sahib”. Her soulful voice filled the whole place with an air of devotion and strength.

This programme was not an ordinary one and rightly so as the guest list had the most elite group of guests. The backdrop was the “guru ki pyari Khalsa fauj” recreated very authentically and they were shown as the horse riders. There were Nihang Sikhs who had their respective positions across the lawns of this huge complex. The lawns were well maintained and very perfectly manicured. Elephants wearing the martial gear enhanced the feeling and the Nihang also added to it by performing their martial arts. They were doing this in the background and the general feeling was one of great humility and devotion. The Jathedar of Akal Takht is Giani Gurbachan Singh. He was reflecting how the Sikhs had sacrificed and how we have to remember them as martyrs by way of this memorial.

Asha Bhosle has the capacity to hold the attention of an entire populace so her presence here in the crowd was like a magnet. Everyone was pulled towards here. She said that she had sung many Punjabi songs but had never visited the place. She said that Punjabi culture had a special place in her heart due to Nanded where Marathis and Punjabis have a combined value and tradition. She gave her performance and then went to the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the people’s guru told that this memorial is going to occupy a great place in history. He compared the memorial to the root of the tree. The way a root holds the tree to ground, similarly heritage is that root which holds the ground of civilization. He also spoke about the money that is spent these days on such memorials and he just shrugged the notion as a form of criticism adopted by many people on such expenditure. He said that he chose to differ. He said that such expenditure for the sake of maintaining our heritage are the only ways we can ensure that our future generation is endowed with a rich knowledge of the past. So he said they are sure to feel grateful to us for this.

Then came the show of celebration. There was lot of confetti in the air and the firecrackers burst in the distant background. The hills around seemed to echo the sound of the crackers. P.S.Badal, the Chief Minister, inaugurated the stone by pressing the button.

After Asha Bhosle the other singer to regale the public was the renowned Punjabi singer Jaspinder Narula. She sang the “deh Shiva” as there was an ardaas that was performed by Giani Tarlochan Singh. This was the last programme of the event and Jaspinder befitted the finale very well. Her melodious voice sifted through the air and every bit of this place was filled with her resounding tone.

The guest list was a really elegant one with the Canadian MP who was defeated recently gracing the occasion. Ruby Dhalla, the Canadian MP attended along with Imran Massod, the former Pakistani minister for education. Then there was the Gujarat Agriculture minister Dalip Sanghi, Rai Azizullah, Om Prakash Chautala the former chief minister of Haryana, Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath Swami Madhav Ashram, the Tamil Nadu leader Vaiko, Bapu Asa Ram the religious head, Moshe Safdie the architect from Israel, Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal the activist for environment, Gurbax Singh Malhi the earlier Canadian Minister. Then there was the first baptized Sikh policeman from Canada, Baljit Singh Dhillon.

Michal R Safdie was the wife of Moshe Safdie and she said she was indeed excited about the whole thing. Moshe Safdie incidentally is popular for the recreation of the Holocaust Museum in Israel. Michal said that she had read about Sikhism and related to it very well. She is a professional photographer and has four children. She is also a human rights activist. As she clicked away all the scenes she could, she liked the sartorial nature of the Nihang. She said that this was different after the photographs she had taken of the refugee camps in Rwanda and Sudan.

Then Jathedar Sri Akal Takht Sahib Giani Gurbachan Singh told the public to give the title of Panth Rattan Fakhar-e-Quam on Prakash Singh Badal the Punjab chief Minister for the way he had contributed for the welfare of Sikhism.