Author and journalist Roopinder Singh’s coffee-table book, ‘Gurdwaras: Abodes of the Guru’, published internationally by Gentry Press, Manila, was discussed and celebrated today at a gathering of litterateurs, historians and art connoisseurs.
The highlight of the evening was a conversation between the author and theatre director Padma Shri Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry.
The evening started with artiste Gurdeep Singh playing the Afghan rabab, an instrument associated with Bhai Mardana. The young artiste briefly spoke about the rabab’s origins and traced its journey from Iran and Turkey, through Afghanistan and Kashmir, and to Punjab through his compositions. A short film on the book showcased the book’s five-year journey and some interesting facts, including how the water from the sarovar of the Golden Temple was used by the book’s illustrator and painter Allan Jay Quesada for his water-colour paintings.
A prolific writer, this is Roopinder Singh’s ninth book. The 340-page book features 51 prominent gurdwaras from across five continents. The discussion between Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry and the author explored the making of the book and how the featured gurdwaras across the world serve not just as places of worship, but as a space where history, faith, architecture and community come together.
The well-researched book, which documents the over 550-year history of the evolution of these sacred spaces, also showcases interesting facts, like how a gurdwara in Richmond Hill, New York City, with stained-glass windows, was earlier a church.
Concluding the discussion, Chowdhry asked the author what the one core takeaway from the book should be. “The inclusiveness of the gurdwara makes us understand that we are all creations of that one Creator,” said Roopinder, whose oeuvre includes books on Sikh history, biography and fiction.
‘Gurdwaras: Abodes of the Guru’ celebrates pluralism through its interfaith collaboration. Written by a Sikh author, the book features exquisite, watercolour paintings by Roman Catholic architectural artist Quesada. It was designed by a member of the Iglesia ni Cristo, and published by Rajiv Daswani of Gentry Press, who is Hindu.
The book also features a foreword by the late Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who described it as a “gateway to the world of the Sikh ethos”.
Besides senior journalists, academicians and scholars, those present on the occasion in Chandigarh included Justice SS Sodhi, member of The Tribune Trust and former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court; Sarvesh Kaushal, former Punjab Chief Secretary; Justice Shabibul Hasnain, Shivdular Singh Dhillon, former IAS officer, Secretary-cum-Chief Executive of Punjab State Red Cross; and historian Prof Indu Banga.