By Tricitynews
Chandigarh 05th December:- It was his long-standing passion and curiosity, which took a
US-based dentist, Dr. Dalvir Singh Pannu all the way to Pakistan to study 84
Sikh heritage sites and shrines to unearth the narratives of Sikh historical
and religious places displaced during the India–Pakistan partition of 1947.
It took Dr. Dalvir Singh
Pannu 11 years to complete his book on the subject - ‘The Sikh Heritage –
Beyond Borders’. Dr. Pannu has encapsulated his painstaking research in the
unique treatise which was released during the press conference held at Press
Club, Sector 27, here.
46-year-old, Dr. D S Pannu,
who initially practiced as a dentist at Phagwara, near his village Pharala in
Nawanshahar district in Punjab for about two years before moving to the United
States said that his book is different from regular documentation on the
subject. The main reason for this is his study and gathering of details from
sources in Farsi and Urdu on the monuments and tallying these with information
obtained from Indian law reports in British archives available. The idea was to
study narratives of different language sources. This way he learnt a lot about
what others like Mughals, Persians, etc also thought about Sikh monuments.
The author adopted the
process of doing extensive analysis and cross-referencing with other sources to
enable readers to comprehend Sikh history. The system included posing
inquiries, applying critical thinking, and investigating hundreds of sources.
Dr. Pannu added that the
book dedicates one chapter each to the 84 sites that it documents. More than 60
of these are gurdwaras established in the name of the first six Sikh gurus, who
had visited Pakistan. Today, these monuments stand out as symbols of the
peaceful and harmonious past lives of people sharing a heritage, whose
affinities go beyond physical borders and territories.
He briefed that the book
has documented decade-long fieldwork of finding and exploring different
historical accounts on the same events. For instance, he explains, the Janam
Sakhis (hagiography/birth and life journey story) contains details about the
miraculous powers of the Sikh gurus. Dr. Pannu said that he engaged a large
team of professional photographers and he visited Pakistan twice in 2008 and
2016. We also got drone photography and videography of the identified sites
done.
The author includes a multitude
of primary sources and Gurumukhi inscriptions, translated into English, to
increase heritage-lovers’ understanding of these sites and to help preserve
their beauty and histories through his writing.
Dr. D S Pannu said that
he would take this opportunity to request Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak
Committee (SGPC) and other Sikh bodies, to include the book in their libraries
so that those interested are benefited by the ready availability of the book.
This way the rich Sikh culture and heritage will not only be preserved but also
propagated in the right earnest.
