INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

on the top that are adjusted to the season. Over the throne two canopies (chandoa)
embroidered with Sikh symbols and gurbani verses are placed: a larger one is hanging
below the ceiling and a small canopy is fastened inside the rounded frame of the
dome. Each morning the throne is dusted and polished, and every second day in the
night the scriptural attires are exchanged with clean and new robes, donated by some
community member. During the summer the throne will be dressed in cooler silk or
nylon and in the winter coated with cotton or woollen robes. In the cold season the
Sikhs will put an extra thick blanket over Guru Granth Sahib to protect the installed
scripture from the cold.
Beside the scriptural seat lies a whisk (chaur) made of yak hair or nylon in metal
or wooden handle, which the granthi or other attendants use for waving over the
scripture. In the Indian culture swaying a whisk over the head of a sovereign or deity
has by tradition been a core symbolic act to pay homage and testify supreme authority
in both secular and religious contexts. In Sikh worship a similar practice has been
adopted to create and simultaneously confirm the sovereign status of the Gurus’
composition and Guru Granth Sahib. At times when the Sikh supplication (Ardas) is
read and public recitations from the scripture begin or end, one member of the congregation
will stand behind the throne to sway the whisk horizontally, back and
forward, in graceful movements over the head of the reciter and Guru Granth Sahib.
During major festivals the granthi is said to do “service of the Guru” (gurseva) by
sitting on the throne for a whole day repeating the waving act. In the daily run, however,
anyone visiting the gurdwara, including non-Sikhs, may take up the whisk to
sway it a couple of times over the scriptural corpus as a gesture of veneration articulated
in bodily acts.
In front of the throne in both gurdwaras a lower wooden fence encloses a rectangular
space that defines a distance between the scripture and visitors, and which
contains paraphernalia that mainly serve decorative purposes, such as statuettes in
brass or steel portraying the khanda or ik omkar signs, flower bouquets, and swords
that are termed “attributes” of the Guru. The decorations evoke an ethos of an attending
Guru and heighten the solemnity of gatherings in presence of the text. The fenced
area also accommodates two small tables on which food and clothes offerings to the
scripture are placed. Any object placed on the throne and in the physical presence of
the scripture ‒ like flowers or clothes ‒ is assumed to have “touched the Guru’s feet”
and hence will be treated as sanctified objects that bring blessings. Through the intimate
contact with the scripture objects are believed to attain generative properties.
When services are held people commonly pay tribute by offering flower garlands to
the seat and as a counter-gift in return receive another garland that has been lying on
the throne for some time and transformed its properties. Because the royal seat of
Guru Granth Sahib represents an abode of authority it is subject to acts of reverence
and worship even at times when the scripture is not installed. At the time of festival
days, for instance, it is customary to gather in front of the seat after the scripture has
been removed and put to rest for the night. Headed by a portable standard a group of
devotees will sing gurbani hymns while slowly circumambulating the throne and
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008