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Tenth Master's Kalgi back in
Punjab, to be displayed for sangat darshan
WSN Bureau
 Amritsar: The Kalgi that Sikhs widely believe was worn by Guru
Gobind Singh ji was on Tuesday brought back from an undisclosed
location in Canada and placed for public viewing at Akal Takht.
Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh and predecessor Giani
Joginder Singh Vedanti received the relic at the Rajasansi
international airport from a team of researchers — IPS officer
Harpreet Singh Sidhu and Ludhiana-based Kamaljit Singh Boparai.
Describing it as a “holy cause carried out without any vested
interest”, Sidhu and Boparai said they had started research to
locate the “kalgi” and bring it back with help from many quarters.
As per the records of the Dharam Parchar Committee of Shiromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the plume has been brought back after
160 years.
The “kalgi” belonging to Guru Gobind Singh — also called ‘Kalgidhar
Patshah’(The Lord who is adorned with a Plume) — was taken to
Sirhind by the Mughal army after the battle of Chamkaur Sahib. From
there, it was brought to Lahore and deposited in the “toshakhana”.
According to one view, Maharaja Ranjit Singh got its possession when
he annexed Lahore in 1799. Another view in DPC records says he
reclaimed the “kalgi” along with the Kohinoor and other valuables
from the King of Afghanistan.
After the Second Anglo-Sikh war, Punjab was occupied by the British
forces under Lord Dalhousie,who took control of the “toshakhana”.On
his pleas, the East India Company in 1851 granted him permission to
buy some articles/relics, including the plume, for his personal
collection.
Following Lord Dalhousie’s demise, his son-in-law Col W.H Broun in
1898 loaned this “kalgi” to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London,
for display. There is no proper record on how the “kalgi” was
retrieved by Col Broun and handed over to his daughters, who finally
handed it over to Bamba Duleep Singh, grand-daughter of Maharaja
Ranjit Singh and daughter of Duleep Singh.
In 1915, she married Lt Col David Waters, an Army doctor, and
shifted to Lahore. She reportedly displayed the “kalgi” at Gurdwara
Shaheedan in Lahore prior to Independence for a couple of days. She
passed away in 1957. But, on the basis of her will, her belongings
were handed over to her secretary, Pir Karim Baksh Sapra.
Sapra handed over some of Princess’ collections to the Pakistan
government to be displayed at the National Museum in Lahore. But, he
sold the “kalgi” to antique dealers in Lahore from where it was
acquired by European collectors.
There is no clear time record about the sale and transfer of “kalgi”
to Europe. Even the research team which today brought it back from
Canada provided no information on how and why it was shifted to
Canada. They refused to disclose the names of the collectors, citing
the condition of confidentiality.
Giani Gurbachan Singh, however, approved the authenticity of this
relic, maintaining that the photos were verified and accorded
authentication by a sub-committee constituted by the SGPC in 2007.
The Jathedar said the decision for the final display of this relic
and its preservation would be taken shortly.
Courtesy Hindustan Times
1
July 2009
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