PATIALA: Nabha residents are elated over the decision of the Punjab and Haryana high court ordering display of full collection of three Sikh gurus' relics, which would be shown to public in their town after a gap of at least 10 years.
Although a group of Nabha residents, through petitioner Gurmail Singh, was fighting a legal battle demanding the eight relics of Guru Gobind Singh should be displayed at Nabha, what cheered the residents is the fact that not only eight, but the entire collection of the relics -- which also includes relics belonging to sixth and ninth Gurus -- would be put on display.
"The state government had decided to hand over the relics to Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to display them at Sri Anandpur Sahib. We were fighting to get eight relics of the tenth Guru, which are currently lying at the Qila Mubarak fort. However, to our delight, the descendent of Nabha royals had pleaded before the court to hand over other relics also, which were in his possession, to residents of Nabha," said Gurmail Singh, who is spearheading the legal battle for the past seven years to bring the Gurus' relics back to Nabha - the erstwhile princely state.
Gurmail said on the initiative taken by the last maharaja of Nabha, Partap Singh, the relics were first put on display for public at Hira Mahal in 1967. "They remained on display for years, but things changed after the death of maharaja in mid 90s. The relics were never seen after 2002, when mutation of the land, where Hira Mahal is today located, was wrongfully executed by some locals. The royal family had kept all relics with them ever since. It is the first time after 2002 that relics will be out on display," he said.
Possessed by the Nabha royals at various junctures since the past over 250 years, at least half of the relics were in possession of their descendants till 2008, when these were handed over to the department of heritage and culture of Punjab by Delhi-based Tikka Hanumant Singh, son of Partap Singh after the Punjab and Haryana high court orders.
Of the total 14, eight relics belonging to Guru Guru Gobind -- a turban, three swords, a cloak, hair with comb and a manuscript -- are in possession of department of heritage and culture of the Punjab government and lying at Qila Mubarak at Patiala.
Similarly, Tikka had recently admitted before the high court that he possessed three more relics belonging to Guru Hargobind Rai and Guru Teg Bahadur, sixth and ninth Gurus of Sikhs, respectively, and pleaded to hand over them.
Rakesh Jain, a social activist, said it was a great moment not only for Nabha residents but for the entire Punjabi community as rare and scared relics of three Sikh gurus would be put on display for the first time in the past over a decade.
