Nanded, April 14: Spring-cleaning at one of the holiest shrines of Sikhs in Nanded, Gurudwara Sachkhand Shri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib, has led to the startling discovery of priceless antique weaponry once used by the soldiers of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.A few days before Baisakhi this year, committee members of the Gurudwara Sachkhand Board decided to open up and clean some rooms at Baradari (12 Doors) that were kept locked for over 150 years - since the time Ranjit Singh had camped at Nanded to oversee the construction of this famous gurudwara with a gold dome. It is built at the same spot where the tenth Sikh spiritual leader, Guru Gobind Singh, was assassinated on the banks of river Godavari in 1708.``On April 7 we cleared the cobwebs of three rooms at Baradari that were locked for a long time; and the stuff that came out of there was truly fascinating,'' remarks president of Gurudwara Sachkhand Board, Sardar Sher Singh Fouji.Seven feet long muzzle-loading guns, a shield made of turtle back and uniquely carved hand guns that tell a story far removed from the era of AK-47s and cold, fibre-glass glock pistols.A lot more of this ancient arsenal was removed from this historic attic within the gurudwara precincts. There were 26 swords of different sizes, four mini-cannons, five XL (extra large) guns, spears, axes, conches and several huge vessels that were once used by the battle-weary soldiers of Ranjit Singh, at Nanded.Of all things, a 150 to 200-year-old pressure cooker (most probably of English make) and church bells depicting the crucifix were also some of the surprise finds, along with wooden khadaons (slippers) and exquisite oil-lamp chandeliers that were used to light up the holy building after sunset.``These old artifacts may probably fetch us a million dollars at Sotheby's, but we have no such plans and are going to polish the weapons to display them at the gurudwara museum,'' says president Fouji. He added that while Ranjit Singh was the Punjab emperor between 1830 to 1839 AD, the weapons are probably over 200 years old. Historians and experts will be soon called to verify the exact age of the antiques.Another managing committee member, Devendra Singhji Motorwale, who was among the first people to open the three rooms, said: ``On Baisakhi day there was a big public demand to see these old weapons, but we told them it will be soon displayed in the museum.'' He said that decades of disuse had completely filled the rooms with cobwebs and a sheet of fine dust.``But most of the swords and spears are in a surprisingly good condition and even the wooden butts of the big guns have not decayed. We already have some of the original weapons of Shri Gurugobind Singhji in the gurdwara, and the latest finds will only add to the great Sikh history of this place,'' remarked Motorwale.Second Golden Temple in the makingWithin the next three years, Gurdwara Sachkhand Shri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib will be completely covered with gold - making it the second Golden Temple of Sikhs, after Harmandir Sahib, in Amritsar.``At an initial cost of Rs 65 crore, our Board has decided to add over 1000 kgs of gold to the gurUdwara,'' informed president of the Board, Sher Singh Fouji.He said that a UK-based NRI Sikh, Bhai Mahendra Singh, is one of the chief donors who has already flown down to Nanded along with 122 international craftsmen for the `golden' job.
