Heritage pays the price for Temple8217;s glitz

At the SGPC information office outside the Harimandir Sahib, spokesperson Gurbachan Singh happily says: 8220;In the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, only 100 kg of gold leaf was used at 15 gm per square foot. Now 600 kg of gold leaf has been used at 45 gm per square foot.8221;

The gold-leafing on the copper plates of the Ranjit Singh era are being pulled out and newones installed. What will happen to the historical art work in gold? Pat comes the reply. 8220;We have yet to take a policy decision on whether it is to be melted or not.8221;

What may actually be cast into the melting pot is the gold-leafing work of great historical and artistic importance. Sikh scholar Patwant Singh, who was invited this summer to Victoria and Albert Museum, London, to deliver a lecture on Conservation and Preservation of our Heritage says: 8220;What is happening is most unfortunate. The SGPC never bothered to lay down the ground rules. The government bulldozed at Anandpur Sahib and now havoc is being played with heritage of the Harimandir Sahib.8221;

Conservation architect Gurmeet Rai, who has documented each historical site in the Harmandir Sahib Complex, says: 8220;The exquisite gold-leafing on copper plates which have been replaced should be catalogued and displayed within the complex and such valuable heritage should not be lost at any cost.8221;

The Harmandir got its name of Swaran Mandir GoldenTemple when the upper parts of the temple where sheathed in richly embossed gold in the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The Maharaja granted Rs 5 lakh for the gold-leafing in 1803.

Sikh scholar Manjit Kaur in her document, The Harimandir included in a volume on The City of Amritsar, published by Punjabi University, Patiala, 1977 says, 8220; The greater part of the architectural structure of the present building of Harimandir was constructed and decorated in the 19th Century. It represents the highest achievement of the Sikhs in art and architecture. The allied arts of the decoration, naqashi and frescoes inside the temple display the skilled craftsmanship of the Indian artists of the 19th century.8221;

While the reasons for 8220;re-golding8221; have puzzled many, Baba Mohinder Singh of the Nishkam Jatha had announced that it was being done as the gold put during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh had lost its sheen. However Narendra Pal Singh, assistant information officer of the SGPC, has anotherjustification: 8220;During the Operation Blue Star in 1984, the Harimandir Sahib got 380 bullet marks even while the government said no bullet had hit the temple. When youths visited the temple and saw the bullet marks in the gold sheets, they used to get agitated. So it was decided to do it again.8221;

Experts feel that repairs could have been carried out and at least the copper plates of the time of the Maharaja could have been retained. While an effort has been made to follow the original design, Mohinder Singh said the new copper plates were imported from Germany.

Another casualty is the gold carving work on the ceiling of the Harimandir Sahib. This has been ripped apart and replaced by samples of present-day craftsmanship. Another victim is the paintings beneath the copper plates. While in the Maharaja8217;s time a wooden frame was used and the paintings were intact, this time some of the paintings have have been scraped, cement put on top and then the copper plates placed above them.

Rai points out: 8220;Useof cement on the a structure of lime and mortar is disastrous. It could bring about the decay of the entire structure. It is the job of restorers who are not hard to find in these times.8221;

The gold coating has been halted now and the notice inside the Harimandir Sahib complex asks pilgrims to not contribute gold. Pilgrims had contributed gold in a big way. Surinder Singh of the Nishkam Jatha says: 8220;The old gold is still in our factory. We have not yet handed over charge.8221; The 8220;gold service8221; was started on February 6, 1995. Sources reveal that there seems to be a rift between the Jatha and the SGPC which has brought the work to a halt.

To be continued