Thursday, March 15, 2012

One-Inch Saroop of Guru Granth Sahib Ji


This post depicts the faith and love of our ancestors who fought in the World Wars. In these photographs you see the ‘one-inch’ Saroop of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. This Saroop is at Gurudwara Mai Than Sahib Ji, Agra, U.P., India. Now, what is the history behind this Saroop.

During the First World War, when the Britishers asked Sikh Regiments to be deployed in Europe. The Sikh Regiments agreed only on the condition that they will be allowed to carry the Saroop of Guru Granth Sahib Ji. The Britishers knew that without this these regiments are not going to leave. So, they got total 13 ‘one-inch’ Saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji printed. The size of these Saroops was kept so small so that their regiments do not face any difficulty in carrying them. These Saroops were printed by a German press.

Later, all these Saroops were distributed among 13 Skh Regiments. Each Saroop was kept in a small box. The Sukhaasan as well as Prakaash was done in this same box. The positioning and arrangement of lens inside the box was done in such a way that when the box was opened, the lens used to come over the Maharaaj’s Saroop and you could open and turn over the Angs of Guru Granth Sahib Ji below the lens. Thus, after taking the Hukamnama, the Sikh Regiments used to fight in the battlefields.

In these pictures, that box and lens are not available. Only that Saroop is available, showing the love and faith of the Sikh Regiments in those days.