The Separated Twin Cities Lahore & Amritsar
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IV/2020 NAGAARA THE SEPARATED TWIN CITIES LAHORE & AMRITSAR The Eighth Annual Conference on Sri Guru Granth Sahib, organised by the Chardi Kalaa Foundation, the San Jose Gurdwara Sahib and SikhNet was held on 7 September 2019 at San Jose in California, USA. One of the largest and arguably most beautiful gurdwaras in North America, the Gurdwara Sahib at San Jose was founded in San Jose, California, USA in 1985 by members of the then-rapidly growing Sikh community in the Santa Clara Valley. Issue IV/2020 CContentsSpecial Issue: The Separated Twin Cities of Lahore & Amritsar 2 Editorial Pushpindar Singh 56 Interwoven History of Lahore Fatma Shah 46 Hockey Champions of the World Nishaan Editorial Team 61 The Imperatives of Trade 29 Sufi Inheritance of Amritsar Tridivesh Singh Maini Yogesh Snehi 65 Turbans Galore at Lahore Ganeev Kaur Dhillon 4 The Tale of Two Mirages Haroon Khalid 48 The Lahore Fort Meeting of Hearts Ganeev Kaur Dhillon 68 Ganeev Kaur Dhillon Letters of Love & The Culinary Delights of Amritsar 50 Longing 71 Artika Aurora Bakshi Amy Singh 35 Line Across the Heart of a Timeless Land Salman Rashid 76 Delectable Fare of Lahore Sheharyar Rizwan 13 The Kingdom of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Nishaan Editorial Team 22 The Magnificent Legacy of Ram Singh 41 Separated Twins of the Sub-continent 52 Splendour of Amritsari Textiles 80 What is Punjabiyat? Pervaiz Vandal and Sajida Vandal Ammara Ahmad Jasvinder Kaur Ajeet Cour IV/2020 Editorial Director Published by Distributors Dr IJ Singh The Nagaara Trust Himalayan Books NAGAARA 16-A Palam Marg 17 L, Connaught Circus, Managing Editor Vasant Vihar New Delhi - 110001 Pushpindar Singh New Delhi 110 057, India India Editorial Panel Associated with Bhayee Sikandar Singh The Chardi Kalaa Foundation Ganeev Kaur Dhillon The opinions expressed in San Jose, USA Artika Aurora Bakshi the articles published in the Printed by Postal address Nishaan Nagaara do not THE SEPARATED TWIN CITIES Aegean Offset Printers LAHORE & AMRITSAR D-43, Sujan Singh Park necessarily reflect the views or Dramatic night view of the India-Pakistan border New Delhi 110 003, India Please visit us at : policy of The Nagaara Trust. taken by an airline pilot flying over Lahore, with E-mail : [email protected] www.nishaannagaara.com its twin-city of Amritsar seen as a glow across the border which is marked by electrified fencing Amritsar is universally known for its Harmandar Sahib, centered within the ‘pool of nectar’, more widely called the ‘Golden Temple’ and regarded as holiest of the holy shrines in Sikhism. Less known is the Sufi his is a very special Issue as the Nishaan inheritance of Amritsar which is recalled by Yogesh Nagaara journal not only marks its 21st year of Snehi who writes that the “Sikh faith acknowledges the Tpublication, but is devoted to the ‘twin-cities’ role of Sufi mysticism in its traditions and this intimate of Lahore and Amritsar, tragically separated during relationship between Sikh Gurus and Sufi saints which partition of the sub-continent in 1947. In putting continues to resonate in popular memory well past the this together, the editors re-lived the poignancy of Partition”. the recent past but were greatly buoyed by enduring Salman Rashid of Lahore is sobered by this ‘Line excitement of the present generation for what did – across the Heart of a Timeless Land’ and in his evocative and still does – bind the two cities, just a short physical article, recalls his visit to lesser known but historically distance apart, even though they remain divided by linked villages on both sides of the Indo-Pak border: political fate, and might as well be on different planets! Gandiwind in Eastern Punjab and Padana in the west This nostalgia for the past but with faith in the future, are just some kilometers across ‘the other side’. The is clearly manifest in the writings from amongst the Sikh Heritage Haveli at Padana has a hoary past but is host of authors who contributed articles for this Issue today a popular and fashionable site for young people from both sides of the Radcliffe line. from Lahore – and historians from overseas. The history of Lahore–and Amritsar–is brilliantly When Ammara Ahmad, also from Lahore, first encapsulated by that master writer Haroon Khalid, the visited Amritsar along with college friends, she was much acclaimed author who has been researching on “bewildered, smitten and deeply saddened”. After her and documenting much historical and cultural heritage border crossing “everything was the same” except for of the land of five rivers, encapsulated in his books some cosmetic differences and she goes on to promote including Walking with Nanak which was inspired by the case for retaining their status as ‘twin-cities’ so that his own master Iqbal Qaiser, and the more recent residents or select groups from each could frequently Imagining Lahore in which he paints a vivid picture of and easily travel across ‘the great divide’, opening new the city which was also the capital of Maharaja Ranjit doors and ushering in a bright future. Singh’s Khalsa Empire. A short, accompanying piece written by the Editor, The twin-cities of Lahore and Amritsar certainly recalls the halcyon days when young sportsmen from were the ‘jewels’ which adorned the Kingdom of Amritsar would mount their bicycles and pedal to Lahore Maharaja Ranjit Singh which, after perfidy of the British for a vigorous, though friendly, game of hockey and colonialists aided by treacherous elements from within, then ride back home. And vice versa. Between Aitchison was annexed by the British in the mid-19th century. Still College at Lahore and Khalsa College at Amritsar, there Lahore thereafter remained capital of the undivided once were a near dozen players who brought home Punjab till 1947 and continues today as the vibrant gold medals and glory from the Olympics. capital of Pakistan’s province of the Punjab. This Issue is actually a dream come real for Over that century of the British ‘Raj’, Lahore gained Ganeev Kaur Dhillon, whose passion for connecting many resplendent monuments, some being created by both the Punjabs remains unmatched – on either side Punjab’s greatest architect of the colonial period, Bhai of the Attari-Wagah border! Most of the articles in Ram Singh, whose unique legacy is preserved by the twin- this Issue have come about because of her energy and city as well: Amritsar’s Khalsa College astride the Grand enthusiasm, but she has also written several pieces Trunk Road is perhaps the most splendid of these heritage including translating an ode to the Lahore Fort (Wah! NISHAAN buildings. This article on Bhai Ram Singh is written by Wah!) which was recited by a guide there. Ganeev Pervaiz Vandal and Sajida Haider Vandal, the latter was now joins the Nishaan’s Editorial team so readers will 2 earlier the Principal of National College of Arts, Lahore. be much enriched by her inimitable style of research and writing: professionally a lawyer, she has also been the Punjab to the north west frontiers and beyond the senior curator at the Partition Museum in Amritsar. Khyber Pass to Afghanistan and onwards, to Central And then, there is that unabashed letter of love Asia. The writer, Tridivesh Singh Maini hopes that the and longing ‘To Lahore from Chandigarh’ by Amy Kartarpur Religious Corridor inaugurated in November Singh whose initiative is now followed on Instagram by 2019 would pave the way for closer links, economic and countless persons from well beyond the subcontinent. people-to-people, between both the Punjabs. Placing another resplendent feather in Nishaan’s Opening of the Kartarpur Corridor – the Kartarpur dastaar is Artika Aurora Bakshi, born and brought up Langha – has sent a frisson of excitement through Punjab in Amritsar, now living with her husband and family with the Kartarpur Corridor agreement between India in Sri Lanka and the author of several well-acclaimed and Pakistan, allowing visa-free access for Indians to visit books including stories on pre-partition Amritsar. Artika’s Gurdwara Darbar Sahib situated just 4 kilometers inside first contribution to the Nishaan is, literally, ‘Mouth Pakistan, for which Panjabis have been yearning since Watering!’ In her article, Artika explores the culinary 1947. This article by Ganeev Kaur Dhillon is illustrated delights of Amritsar which are world famous. with images taken by her during her pilgrimage to In his virtual mirror-image article, Sheharyar Kartarpur Sahib. Rizwan who is with the Dawn newspaper, writes Another feisty and festive piece by Ganeev describes on the delectable fare of Lahore, many of the dhabas the joyous atmosphere at a wedding in Lahore when her there retaining their roots, many naming their shops childhood friend Sakina Abbas Zaidi was to be married as ‘Amritsar’! Happily too in their attempt to merge but was keen on Sikh turbans to be worn by her male the cuisines, some entrepreneurs have established a family members at her Sangeet. And so they did, the restaurant midway between Amritsar and Lahore, on safas being tied at the venue after being brought from the GT Road which “synthesizes culinary ties between across the border by her ‘Indian family’. Who then that the twin-cities”. evening could tell Indians from the Pakistanis?! Although it is regarded as the undisputed food Last but not in the least, is the article written by capital of north India today, but once upon a time, the re-doubtable author Ajeet Cour who asks (and Amritsar was a major textile trading centre too, as recalls answers) that very clichéd question on Punjabiyat. Well Jasvinder Kaur, who has worked as a consultant with beyond the geographical boundaries of the two Punjabs Music d’Art et d’ Histoire, Geneva and is also author of and now spread worldwide, is this completely unique the book ‘Attire and Textiles of Punjab - Influences of Punjabi way of life which can best be described as the British Raj’.