HOLY WEAPONS AT ANANDPUR SAHIB
KHANDA
Double edged sword with which the holy nectar (Amrit) was prepared.
KARPA BARCHHA
Steel armour piercing lance
SAIF
Double edged sword of Hazrat Ali. Presented to Sri Guru Gobind Singh by the 7th Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah.
NAGINI BARCHHA
Cobra lance with which Bhai Bachittar had made the enemy's drunken elephant retreat from Lohgarh Fort.
MUSKET
It was presented by a devotee to Guru Gobind Singh Ji.
KATAR
Small cutlass used in hand to hand fighting.
Two lances, Shamshir-i-Teg, a remarkable sword, Dah-i-Ahni, a forked lance with steel handle, a Golden Chakra kind of an attacking Quoit with 22 stanzas of the holy scriptures of Sri Japji Sahib engraved on it and Rhino - skin shield these weapons were received from England in 1966.
THE PUNJABI HERITAGE OF MUSIC
Punjabi music is perhaps the only music that has a rich cultural heritage in all its forms of -
Divine Music (Religious) constituting Gyana (Knowledge) and Karma (Duty or Work), Classical Music, Folk Music or Veer (Warrior or Valour).
DIVINE MUSIC
The Gurmat Sangeet, or the divine music of the Sikh religion, is perhaps the only music form that
uses music to subvert the inner resistance of the human being to transform and regenerate him into an awareness of his inner sscence. It uses, the music as an essential tool for tranformation of an individual.
The Gurbani, a collection of the divine doctrine of the gurus, is very well composed in the form
of hymes called "Shabad". Each shabad is composed in a certain raga and is supposed to be sung at a particular period of a day, or a particular phase of the life cycle. The recital of the same is called "Gurbani Jap". When sung in a community gathering, it is called " Kirtan". The teachings
have a wide coverage of all aspects of life and include philosophy, Sprituality and directions to lead life. A rich collection from various Hindu and Sufi saints like Kabir and Rehman have been included, in Guru Granth Sahib.
The application of forms of Gyana and Karma to the devotional music is perhaps seldom found so well,
in any religion.
GYANA
Punjabi, specially the Gurmat Sangeet has very rich "Gyana" or the teaching aspect.
KARMA
Karma or duty/work teachings, are inherent in the music, where sikhs are informed how to face real life problems, still abiding the spirits of goodness.
The ragis are the ones who sing the devotional rags, at Gurudwara's or any other place.The form of
music is also called "Vani" meaning devotional music written by Guru's and saints.
Rababi is a community of musicians in Punjab before partition of India and Pakistan, descendants
of Baba Mardana(a disciple of Guru Nanak). Rababi's, as they were known, were attached to the gurudwaras. They represented a very gentle mingling of Sikh, Hindu and Muslim cultures.
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Patiala gharana is a famous gharana of Punjab, and a offshoot of Gwalior school. Originally a family of muscicians from Kasur, a small tehsil of Lahore district served at the courts of Patiala, from where the name is derived. Well known musician from this gharana are Fateh Ali (called Taan Kaptan), Ali Baksh (called Jarnail), Kale Khan, Mian Jan, Bade Gulam Ali Khan, Akhtar Husain and Ashiq Ali Khan.
Sham Chaurasi gharana is a grarana of musicians from a small town of Shyam Chaurasi near Hoshiarpur,
Punjab. Its only surviving muscician is Salmat Ali. One of the best known musicians of this Gharana was Sain Karim.
FOLK MUSIC
Any song that can be set to music is called Geet. Geet's are the most traditional forms of Punjabi
music.
On special occasions Tappa and Bolian are sung in conjunction with Dance forms of Gidda and
Bhangra.Tappa literally means 'jump'. The first line, a dummy with no meaning, keeps the metre, the second gives the full meaning of the couplet. Bolian is also similar, except that it has a special style - of a question "Bara Barsi Khatan Gaya Se Khat Ke Liyaa " starting phrase and "Khat Ke liyanda...... " response in the second phrase.
Heer is a special form of music, sung to depict the loneliness of the woman in love. Heer takes its
name from the famous Heer -Ranjha love story, where Heer was seperated from her lover Ranjha.
VEER
Guru Gobind Singh ji, was a valliant soldier, however, little is written about his Poetry and Music
which has a unique leadership quality that brings all the hidden qualities of a person related to his bravery and commitment to life for the benefit of others. His famous Song "Dey Shevavar Mohee a hey shub karaman they kabho na daro" is an epic example. So is his Vichitra Veen Play. |
