June

Sikhism has a rich creative heritage (encompassing music, poetry, architecture, textiles, and painting to name a few) that stretches back centuries. Since the time of Guru Nanak Ji the arts have provided an invaluable and accessible medium of communication for expressing Sikh teachings, worship, culture and identity, and for documenting Sikh history. For example, some of the earliest hand-written Sikh scriptures were embellished with calligraphy using floral designs and other imagery. The tenth Sikh Guru, Sri Gobind Singh ji encouraged poets, artisans, scribes and musicians to settle at the centres he established for his followers at Anandpur and Patna Sahib.

These centres provided havens of creativity during later periods of Mughal rule in India when the arts were discouraged and neglected. Guru Nanak conveyed his spiritual message for mankind through holy songs, accompanied by his life long companion Bhai Mardana on the Rubab - a stringed instrument. Symbolic accounts of Guru Nanak's life and teachings, initially handed down the generations orally, were recorded over time through illustrated manuscripts known as the Janamsakhi tradition (the earliest being dated,1658). We ourselves first learned about some of the most popular accounts from our father.

These have been a re-occurring source of inspiration for our art, not least the illustrations we created for a book, titled, 'Jewels From Sikh Wisdom: A Journey of Discovery', which explores the teachings of the Sikh Gurus, their legacy, and their relevance today. One of the illustrations from the book (titled, 'Nanak The Enlightened Child') depicts different narratives from Guru Nanak's childhood that involve acts of divine intervention symbolising his spiritually elevated status as blessed soul even at such a young age. D A Y S O F O B S E R VA N C E S