2020

The 2020 Sikhlens Calendar documents the Sikh legacy in Pakistan through photographs by Singapore-based Amardeep Singh. After Partition in 1947, Sikhs were forced out of land that became Pakistan, leaving gurdwaras, forts, havelis, and monuments of a once large Sikh empire.

Amardeep is a descendant of families from Muzaffarabad and Abbottabad who moved to Uttar Pradesh in 1947. In October 2014 he spent a month in 36 cities and villages. In January 2017 he went farther: 90 cities and villages across Pakistan Administered Kashmir, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and East Punjab. In all, 126 places.

Many sites had been abandoned or turned into schools, shops, military bases, or homes. Some gurdwaras still function. A selection of those photographs, with historical notes, fills this year. He published the work in two books, Lost Heritage: The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan and The Quest Continues, and in the films Peering Soul and Peering Warrior.