To paint the Gurus or Not

Painting Sikh Gurus

I am going to discuss a topic that is very close to my heart. Should we have paintings of the Gurus at our homes or Gurdwaras or not? You may have a strong opinion on this topic but lets rationally look at all aspects on this issue before we form a polarized view.

Why the Fuss About?

Idolizing the mythological Gods and historical individuals have been an age old tradition in India. The sculptures and paintings of Hindu Gods, Jain Tirthankars, and Buddha are revered in temples as well as at peoples homes. 

In Islam, however it's an absolute prohibition - Muhammad, or any of the other prophets of Islam, should not be pictured in any way. Pictures - as well as statues. Historically though Mohammad has been painted by Muslim artists during the earlier period of Islam. At what point then, did depictions of Muhammad become Haram, or forbidden? The advent of mass-circulation print media in the 18th century posed a challenge and a global ban was dictated to the devouts.

Painting of Guru on Living Room Wall

The Sikhs do not worship to idols of the Gurus but it is fact that the Sikhs visualize their Gurus in the form of paintings. I was brought up in a loving, devout Sikh home and as long as I can remember, I’ve grown up with pictures of Sikh Gurus on the walls of our home. It important to clarify that we never worshiped to the paintings of the Guru but the visualizations of the Gurus and martyrs was all over the home.

So why are some Sikhs vehemently against the paintings of the Gurus? Are Sikhs forgetting their own heritage and following the Islamic tradition of shunning the paintings of the Gurus. Despite the fact that paintings of Sikh Gurus and other notable personalities existed for centuries as murals in historic Gurdwaras for hundreds of years.

Paintings of the Gurus

Whenever I think of Guru Nanak, the visualization of the calm face of the Guru deep in meditation as painted by Sobha Singh comes to mind. Sobha Singh was a gifted painter and his paintings of the Sikh Gurus became popular in Sikh households post independence. People could visualize the the image of Gurus in his paintings. His Greatest religious masterpiece is "Guru Nanak in the blessing pose". Sobha Singh researched old murals of the Guru to the extent that the lines on the palm of Guru Nanak were drawn after studying the horoscope of the Guru (Sikhs do not believe in palmistry or astology but many Hindu followers of the Guru do). This painting was made in honor of the 500th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak in 1969.

Like the figures in other academic realist paintings, Singh’s Gurus were idealized, and depicted in action. Guru Angad is seated on the ground, preparing the first important text of Sikhism; Tegh Bahadur meditates, his unearthly calm foreshadowing imminent martyrdom; Guru Gobind Singh with resplendent before his fort. His works were reproduced en masse in Amritsar, and disseminated worldwide.

Sobha Singh, the Painter of the Gurus

Singh’s paintings animated the lives of the Gurus through realistic-looking-features; fitting for the Sikh belief that Gurus were human, but with unique strengths. Many other Sikh artists followed Sobha Singh’s lead in using an academic realist style to portray Gurus, and their paintings have also become popular. Gurbux Singh, Mehar Singh, Amar Singh, Aparna Cour, and Manu Saluja among many other talented painters have depicted the sikh Gurus with their brush, 

How did Sikh Guru Really Look Like?

All paintings of Sikh Gurus are artists impression as visualized by that artist. Sobha Singh mesmerized the devout Sikhs with his realistic looking painintings. These painings may not be how the Gurus looked like in real life but they are very close. This closeness comes from popular folklore about the Gurus, descriptions by contempolary writers, and the visualization of the personas through the life events of the Gurus.

Here are some older paintings of the Sikh Gurus from the old murals and frescos from gurdwaras, palaces, and hawelis of Sikh Sardars. Its worthwile to state that these are older than Sobha singh's paintings and painted closer to the period of the Gurus. But thee are still the impressions of the artists ho painted them. In my opinion, these paintings have historical perspective but are no better in true image of the Gurus than Soobha singh's paintings.

Guru Nanak

Ths painting is from Baba Atal Gurdwara and portrays Guru Nanak sitting under a tree in a familiar pose wearing simple attire.

Another older depiction of Guru Nanak wearing a Selhi cap and a robe illustrated with calligraphy in the Arabic naskhi script with verses of the Koran. The sleeves and a part of the hem of the robe contain the Guru's own composition Japji Sahib. The artist is inspired by the robe Guru Nanak received as a gift from the Caliph of Baghdad during his fourth great journey (1517-1522). That robe is preserved at Gurdwara Chola Sahib at Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab.

Third example is a 19th century painting acquired by Queen Mary of England. He sits on a floral carpet wearing a Kashmiri shawl over a dervish’s patched garment with an ascetic’s crutch laid beside him. He holds prayer beads in his left hand with his right extended towards Mardana, his companion, Mardana playing the rabab. A servant standing behind the Guru fans him with a rumal (handkerchief).

 After looking at these older paintings, lets now reflect back and see how similar are these to Sobha Singh's depiction.

Guru Angad

Not much is available on the second Guru except for this 19th century painting from the British Royal collection that shows Gur Angad listening to Gurbani with a Pothi scripture next to him.

Guru Amardas

This painting of Guru Amardas is from 19th century and depicts him in conversation with an Udasi sage.

The following paining of Guru Amardas is more recent and depicts him wearing all white attire.

Guru Ramdas

The fourth Guru was the founder of the city of Amritsar and visionary for the concept of Harmander Sahib. 

Guru Arjan Dev

The 19th century painting of Guru Arjan Dev shows him reading from the Adigranth that he was composing. An Udasi sage is sitting next to him listening to the verse.

Guru Hargobind Rai

The sixth Guru changed the attire from simple spiritual clothings to a regal attire. he wore a regal turban with Kalgi demonstrating the emergence of political aspirations of the Sikhs. He was also the first Guru to sport a sword indicating the amalgamation of spiritual power with temporal power. He wasknown to be 6' 3" tall and built like a warrior. The following paining is from the personal collection of Sardar Anurag Singh.

Here is another depiction of Guru Hargobind Rai.

Guru Har Rai

The seventh Guru Har Rai was a peaceful leader with interest in nature. The following painting depcts him sitting close the banks of a river. This paining is courtsey of Thir iqbal from Lahore.

Gur Harkrishan Rai

The eighth Guru was the youngest Guru in Sikhism. He contracted smallpox and passed away in 1664 while taking care of people of Delhi during the small pox pandemic. 

The next paining of Guru Harkrishan in Delhi with Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur bowing down in respect. Note that Raja Jai Singh give his bunglow to the Guru to take care of the small pox stricken patients abandoned by their families on the streets of Delhi.

Guru Tegh Bahadur

Dr. Gurbax Singh found this painting of Guru Tegh Bahadur in East Bengal. During his itinerary in Eastern India (1666-1671), Guru Tegh Bahadur stayed at Dacca from 1666-1669. The congregation of Dacca (Sangat) had built a mansion for Guru Tegh Bahadur’s stay, which is now known as Gurdwara Sangat Tola, and the locality in which it is situated is called Sangat Tola Lane. Before his departure from Dacca Guru Tegh Bahadur consented to the request of the mother of Bhai Bulaki Das of Dacca, for making a portrait of the Guru by Ahsan, the royal painter of Nawab Shaista Khan.

This historical fact has been recorded by Sarup Das Bhalla, a descendent of Guru Amar Das in Mehima Prekash ( 1773AD ) and Kavi Santokh Singh in his Suraj Prakash (1842AD). Please read more details from the blog by Prof. Anurag Singh, the son of Dr. Trilochan singh.

Guru Gobind Singh

The paintings of Sobha Singh depicts Guru Gobind Singh as a handsome Guru riding a white steed with regal attire sporting a hawk on his hand.

This depiction is not any different from the 19th century murals of the tenth Guru.

Anothe old painting of Guru Gobind Sngh shows him sitting with Khalsa warriors in attendence..

The next painting shows him riding his steed and a Khalsa Warrior in attendence behind him.

But the fact remains that the portrayal of Guru Gobind Singh by Sobha Singh remains in the mind of Sikhs. The handsome face of the Guru staying calm in "Chardi Kala" despite the setbacks of life, gives strength to his followers.

My Conclusion

It has been such a blessing to discover that worshiping one Creator alone as recommended by the great Gurus. There are millions of Sikhs out there who have found faithful, loving ways of expressing worship both to God and visualize the presence of the Gurus with paintings, without compromising either their faith or their view of scripture.

Sikh Gurus promoted arts and literature. The paintings have been enshrined in the older manuscripts of Dasam Granth. The historic Gurdwaras, palaces of Sikh Rajas, and Hawelis of Sikh Sardars depicted the Gurus in murals and frescos. As mentioned earlier, the ninth Guru Tegh Bahadur himself posed for Ahsan the painter to paint his portrait. They would never restrict the creativity of artists.

Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Dasam Granth, and Rehatnama DO NOT prohibit the paintings of the Gurus. Then why are these people are confused? Are they influenced by the Islamic thought process?

I am of firm opinion that worshiping to Ek Ongkar, the eternal creator of us all and having a paining of the Gurus in the house are not contradictory as long as you don't idol worship to the pictures. There is however a genuine concern on how to prevent the disrespect of Guru's paintings in mass print production.

I leave it for you to determine where you stand on this topic ... but do take a couple of minutes to watch this video of an artist sketching Guru Gobind Singh:

Reference

Historicity of Guru Tegh Bahadur’s Painting, Prepared by Ahsan—Sardar Anurag Singh, Prof. | Anurag Singh; A Journal-Keeper's Diary (wordpress.com)