Going Back to Classical Raga Shabads & Kirtans

I was at one of my favourite Gurudwaras recently for someone's Akhand Paath & the atmosphere as usual was divine.But the Granthis were as usual ill educated, out of 'SUR' when singing Shabads with filmi tunes  - one must have continued to speak of Macauliffe & how the Christian missionary 'saved Sikhi' for the good of Punjab. Looking around, most of the sangat were either not interested in what the Granthi was saying, nor anyone seemed to know who the hell is Macauliffe even.. Little did this Granthi know the extent of damage & poison that has been the main cause of Macauliffe's mistranslations, manipulations of the Shri Adi Granthji & seeds of anti-Hinduism sown into every Sikh's mind. The type of 'Parchaar' or speeches going on nowadays in most Gurudwaras are actually dragging Sikhi backwards & away from the Guru's original words & preaching. Is it any wonder that Sikhs are lost nowadays? Either we get the most radical brainwashed Khalistani Talibani Sikhs with turbans & beards only as their identity with no clue as to what the original Sanatan Sikhi was as per the Guru's word - or  - we get those who don't even care whether they are Sikhs or not. Their's is just to drink their cash away, eat all types of meat, go to the local Gurudwara for showing off to their Sikh neighbours only - but the true essence of Sikhi is truly withering away daily as seen in most Gurudwaras. The most annoying & disappointing thing about the way in which the Granthis sing Shabads & Kirtans nowadays is no way near to arousing any spirituality within the hearts of the listeners or devotees. Perhaps we ought to demand that these Granthis or Raagis to sing in the original Ragas in which the Shabads are meant to be sung in. 

I'll finish the post with this fantastic video & hope you all enjoy listening to this Shabad Kirtan bani of Shri Guru Angad Devji in its traditional Raga Sri Raga Di Vaar.

WaheGuruji Ka Khalsa
WaheGuruji Ki Fateh

 .

Puratan swaroop of Shri Adi Granth Ji

Sanatan Heritage of Sikhi






Blessed is the paper, blessed is the pen, blessed is the ink.
Blessed is the writer, O Nanak, who writes the True Name. ||1|| 

(Guru Nanak Sahib. Raag Malaar Ang 1291) 

ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ ਜੀ ਕਾ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ
ਵਹਿਗੁਰੂ ਜੀ ਕੀ ਫਤਿਹ॥




This post is about the Puratan Swaroop of Shri Adi Granthji with beautiful & rare images never seen before. These include the Jaapji prayer, images of decorated Swaroops with Ek Omkaar flanked by Hindu Devatas like Ganesh, Hanuman, Shri Krishanji, Brahma, Mata Saraswati, Mahakal Shivji, etc

Jaap Ji in Puratan Swaroop

             Puratan Swaroop of decorated Dasam Granthji from the collection of British Library

Decorated Swaroops from National Museum New Delhi - Above Swaroop is a profusely decorated copy of the Damdami Birh - lavishly illuminated in Kashmiri style. The Swaroop was commissioned by Sodhi Bhan Singh of Haranpur (district Jhelum) between 1839 and 1843, it was produced by Kashmiri artist Miha Singh and the scribe Misar Prakas. Bhan Singh was a Sodhi decendent of Prithi Chand. . 

The contents page with Omkaar of the Birh is striking with Lord Vishnu as DvadashKamalas - the 12 petalled lotuses - illustrations of  all the Hindu Devatas are there including Ganesh & Hanumanji

Above: we see the tradition of Bhai Banno, it is said that when Guru ArjanDevJi  finished dictating the Adi Granth Ji to Bhai Gurdas the scribe, he sent Bhai Banno to Lahore to have the Pothi bound. Bhai Banno made a copy of the pothi which he also had bound. He presented both the volumes to Guru Sahib. In the illustration from this birh we can see Bhai Banno and Bhai Gurdas standing by their respective 'birhs' and Guru Arjan Dev Ji is pointing to the birh scribed by Bhai Gurdas as the accepted birh. 

Below: close up of the image:Omkaar flanked by Shivji, Brahmaji, Vishnuji, Mata Laskhmiji, Ganeshji, Hanumanji

Puratan Swaroop depicting Guru Sahibaan & Bhan Singh ji worshipping Lord Mahakaal Shivji, Chandi Mata

Jaap Ji decorated Swaroop with the Dvadash ( 12 ) Lotus petals with Vedic Hindu Devatas: Ganesh as Omkaar, Krishanji, Narasingh Avatar of Lord Vishnu, Goddess Saraswati with Lord Ganesh.

NaraSingh Avatar of Lord Vishnu

Guru NanakDevji & the Janeu

"The Divine Thread started everything. 
The knower of the Thread is a yogi, his Knowledge is 
beyond the scope of the Vedas. 
Pearls stringed together form an ornament. The Divine Thread holds together the Universe. 
The Yogi wears this Thread when he becomes aware of his Divinity. 
Established in highest state of Yoga, the yogi discards the external thread. 
The wearer of the Thread of Knowledge is never unclean. The Thread exists within him. 

Knowledge is the greatest purifier." 
--- Brahma Upanishad --- 


It is a well known fact that Guru Nanak Devji studied the Upanishads, Vedas  & Puranas with the help of sants, sadhus, mystics & yogis of the time. In the Shri Adi Granthji, is Nanak Dev ji saying exactly what the above sanskrit shloka is describing in the Upanishads, which was known thousands of centuries before His birth? He was born a Brahmin of the Vedi or Bedi clan who are students of any one particular Veda; there are Dvi-Vedis who study two Vedas, there are Tri-Vedis who study three Vedas & finally there are the Chatur-Vedis who study all the four Vedas - my point is that the neo-sikh talibanis, have suppressed & shamelessly distorted the famous shloka of Guru Nanak Devji regarding the Janeu of Spirituality - was Guruji actually saying the same  as what was already mentioned in the Upanishads by the ancient Rishis? The bigotted Tat Khalsa Singh Sabhias were quick to include this shloka and make into a canard and into an incident within the Janamsakhis of Guru NanakDevji simply to bash Hindu traditions with. But this is what Guruji actually wrote down in Asa Di Vaar :


''Make compassion the cotton, contentment the thread, modesty the knot and truth the twist; This is the sacred thread of the Soul; if you have it then go ahead and put it on me; It does not break, it cannot be soiled by filth,it cannot be burnt or lost; Blessed are those mortal beings ( Yogis ) O Nanak who wear around their necks''.


Okay lets take a closer look at the above shloka written by Guru Nanakji & lets see how much similar it truly is to the original shloka of the Brahma Upanishad. Is there any rejection at all of the sacred thread or Janeu as far as Guruji is concerned? It certainly doesn't seem so.In fact Guruji seems to be eager to wear the spiritual thread as described in the Upanishad shloka.Nowhere is Guruji stating that he rejects wearing of any Janeu, but insists on the one that is simply described in the Upanishads by Rishis of long ago.


My argument : How does Guruji & Sikhi become non-Hindu when He was repeating exactly the same words mentioned in the Hindu Upanishads texts when describing the Janeu or sacred thread ?  So why is it that the anti-Hindu bigots of the Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha seem to make such a big hue & cry about this particular shloka of Asa Di Vaar whenever they want to paint a separate identity of Sikhi ? By the way, this shloka was written by Guruji during his later years & not at the time of His receiving the Janeu from His Guru Pandit Dayal as is wrongly told to all of us by the Neo Sikhs.Remember, He was only 8 years old when his father arranged the Janeu ceremony for Him. 

Amritsar - An ancient City - by Tanveer Singh

I happened to be surfing the net & found this exceptional article that I would like to share with you all, about Amritsar & its Vedic history. Written beautifully by another Tanveer Singh, I'm happy to note that there are Sikhs who are waking up to the Sanatan Dharmic heritage & boldly stating all true facts to get back at the Taliban Sikh brigade.

 Read the entire article here : 
 source: http://www.trinetra.org.uk/#/amritsar-the-ancient-city/4552288421

Hindu Khalsa Flags - Part 2

Continuing with my last post on the Hindu-Khalsa flags & how the final 'Sikh' flag evolved under the SGPC. Today it is unimaginable that there was a time when a traditional Saffron flag with the motif of Durga Mata flew above the Shri Harimandirji, thanks to the fraud of Tat Khalsa. As is seen in most of the earlier paintings that the Khanda was not the emblem at all of the 'Sikhs' during the time of the Gurus - upto the 10th Guru in fact - until the SGPC decided to give Sanatan Sikhi a different colour set apart from its Hindu heritage that had continued during the time of all the Gurus. Though, however, Khanda is the assortment of the various weapons of Hindu Goddess Shakti Durga & still the present 'Sikh' emblem is very much a part of Hindu tradition that was prevalent several centuries ago.

Painting circa : 18th century - of a Hindu Khalsa army

Khalsa flags bearing the Hindu Goddesses of war

Sketch of Shri Harimandirji ca 19th century ( 1874 AD). The flags hoisted at the top  have the tulwar, kattar & dhal

Close up of the above image

A clearly visible Saffron flag carried by the Hindu Khalsa of Guru Gobindji's army

Wall painting. Temple of Bairagis, Hoshiarpur circa:19th century- 10th Guruji with the Hindu Khalsa holding a simple flag 

circa: 18th century - 10th Guruji with his Khalsa army & a red-saffron flag

circa: end 17th century-early 18th century - a very simple flag

circa: 18th century - 10th Guruji with the Khalsa carrying a saffron flag  that has the symbols of dagger, sword & dhal

circa : 18th century - the 4 Sahibzadas - the flag is yellow & simple background

circa: 18th century - 10th Guruji with his army- a simple yellow flag with sword, dagger & dhal

A close up of the flag

Painting circa: 19th century - Baba Deep Singhji - the Khanda symbol  is visible  at the top of his turban but in the background the old styl of flag is visible also.

Closer view of the flag in the background

Guru Gobind Singhji inspiring the Hindu Khalsa army at Anandpur Sahib. Painting : 1930s

A close up of the flag carried by the Khalsa & the dhal shield & tulwar sword is visible behind the bird.

A very ancient Khanda belonging to the Chola tradition of India

circa: late 19th- early 20th century Khalsa military turban badge. The emblem  consists of a khanda sword above a chakra, two crossed curved swords, two axes within the chakra. 

circa: 19th century - Maharaja Ranjit Singhji with Hari Singhji. Behind is the shield, two tulwars & a bow across

Closer view 

circa: late 19th - early 20th century - the 10 Gurujis. Emblem at the top of the painting has two tulwars, a bow, a dhal & a trishul at the centre. While both the emblems at the bottom of the painting have two axes, two tulwars & trishul at the centre of the dhal.

Closer view of the emblem at the top of the painting

Closer view of the emblem at the bottom of the painting

Painting circa: late 19th - early 20th century - all ten Gurujis.  The emblem at the top has two swords, a bow, a Chakra & trishul, while the two emblems at the bottom of the painting have two battle axes, a bow, two swords, a Chakra & trishul spear at the centre.

Shiv Swaroopi Hindu Sant with the Addh Chand.

Shiv Swaroopi Akali Nihang

Shiv Swaroopi Akali Nihang

Closer view of the painting with a Nihang & all the Hindu weapon symbols 

1912 - Vancouver, British Columbia. The emblem is part of a letterhead of a mining company run by Sikh immigrants in Canada. Visible in the emblem is a large Khanda, two banners, two curved tulwar swords & a Chakra.

1904 : Golden Temple- The Photo shows schoolboys at Shri Harimandirji . They are wearing turbans which were  of a common style all over Northern India. There are Hindus as well standing in the background, one is a Brahmin teacher while there are some who haven't covered their heads. It seems like all Gurudvaras of the time, the Shri Harimandirji was also a great centre of learning, where there were Brahmin teachers & Hindu murtis also were inside the HariMandirji before the Christian Missionaries under the British threw them out to make the complex a Christian centre in 1906. In the far background, the Miri Piri flags are visible  - having the Dhal, Kattar & Khanda.

A close up where the symbols are very visible. Flags bear the shield, tulwar & dagger.


To be continued....