INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

Tegh Bahadur in sitting positions, for example, are to be found at places where people
are expected to devote themselves to practices of a similar kind. In Gurubagh
Gurdwara a garlanded portrait of Guru Nanak has been hung up above the scriptural
throne, facing the visual field of the seated congregation, and by its placement indexes
the seat which Nanak occupied on his visit. In outreaching propaganda directed
to the broader society, in contrast, images of Guru Gobind Singh bearing
weapons are more frequently utilized, in combination with texts describing him as
the fearless fighter of freedom and justice who created Khalsa to make the armed
Sikhs serve these ends. In the gurdwara setting most of these portraits are displayed
in places not to attract acts of worship of devotees (such as on high up levels or behind
windows), but only to be viewed and function as reminders of the past. In response
to a seemingly contradiction of decorating the gurdwaras with images of the
Gurus and at the same time reject image worship, a male interlocutor told a story
about a boy who was madly in love with a girl and was promised her hand only if he
would pass a stiff examination in school. The boy agreed to the condition and at the
time of his exam brought along a photograph of the girl, which he glanced at after
each question attempted. When the teachers suspected the boy for cheating, he replied
that he was only looking at his source of inspiration. In the same way the Sikhs
draw their spiritual inspiration from images of the Gurus, the man explained.
On a different devotional scale, however, portraits of the Gurus may serve several
religious functions to individual Sikhs. An elderly Sikh man who ran a retail
shop in the city centre of Varanasi used to open his shop every morning with an Arti
ceremony by circulating sweet-scented incense before a set of frame pictures of Guru
Nanak, Guru Gobind Singh, Baba Deep Singh and the Hindu goddess Lakshmi
seated beside Ganesh. Holding the incense, he would continue to the entrance of the
shop where he repeated the act in front of the work place and over his desk and the
safe. He would then pour out Ganga amrit, or a purified water-nectar which he had
collected from the well in Nichibagh Gurdwara, into his cupped hand, drink most of
it himself and then sprinkle the remainder over his forehead and turban. In case
workers or customers were present during the minute-long morning worship, he
made sure to offer them a share of the sacred water. In a similar fashion other Sikhs
would pay homage to visual representations of the Gurus by offering incense and
flowers to framed bazaar posters that were displayed in places of honor, such as
small altars in the living-room at the house, near the cash-counter in the shop or at
other micro-settings. Others would wear miniature pictures of the Sikhs Gurus,
coated with plastic, in the front pocket nearby the heart, like amulets for protection,
blessings and devotional aid. Individuals will respond to the visual representations in
many different ways, while the gurdwaras attempt to set norms of collective worship
and devotional attitudes.
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008