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The lost Sikh turban style


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Just now, 5akaalsingh said:

I do agree with you on some points.  The Gurus did pose for painters, but most of these paintings have been lost. One thing we can be sure is that, Pahari art, at least the surviving pieces, has survived due to lots of copies of older ones were made by artists. 

Saying that I don't reject the use of metaphors in Pahari art

I'm no expert obviously, but I suspect that may be the reason why Pahari art can at times appear rather generic - the subjects always appear in the same sorts of garb, positions and poses. Perhaps they were intended for easy reproduction. And as reproductions become more prominent, artists may have wanted to insert details here and there marking the pieces as their own. 

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4 hours ago, Balkaar said:

I'm no expert obviously, but I suspect that may be the reason why Pahari art can at times appear rather generic - the subjects always appear in the same sorts of garb, positions and poses. Perhaps they were intended for easy reproduction. And as reproductions become more prominent, artists may have wanted to insert details here and there marking the pieces as their own. 

I believe you're on to something here. I think replication is a VERY common method of skills development for an artist. That would explain the similarity between images. But as you've suggested, the way an artist might place his/her own personal imprint on a work is by varying certain details like the clothes and colours. 

An interesting thing for me concerns the portrayals of Guru Tegh Bahadhur. All contemporary and near contemporary images have Guru ji in clearly regal attire and accoutrements (such as a hawk perched on their wrist), a portrayal most of us would associate with Guru Hargobind or Dasmesh pita ji. But I think Sobha Singh's recent, highly popular portrayal of nauvan padshah emphasising his bhagti, totally obliterated the old, contemporary image for the panth. 

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55 minutes ago, dallysingh101 said:

I believe you're on to something here. I think replication is a VERY common method of skills development for an artist. That would explain the similarity between images. But as you've suggested, the way an artist might place his/her own personal imprint on a work is by varying certain details like the clothes and colours. 

An interesting thing for me concerns the portrayals of Guru Tegh Bahadhur. All contemporary and near contemporary images have Guru ji in clearly regal attire and accoutrements (such as a hawk perched on their wrist), a portrayal most of us would associate with Guru Hargobind or Dasmesh pita ji. But I think Sobha Singh's recent, highly popular portrayal of nauvan padshah emphasising his bhagti, totally obliterated the old, contemporary image for the panth. 

Now that you mention it it is odd. Guru Tegh Bahadur appears to be the only Guru whose persona underwent a complete overhaul in Sikh art. I suppose since all art is a reflection of the imagination, and since Guru Tegh Bahadur was known more for his bhagti than for any military feat (to my knowledge he undertook no campaigns against foes), this is how Sobha Singh imagined he must have looked. An honest mistake probably. 

This is a trend in contemporary Sikh art, artists representing the figures of our history based on what they know of them - and this knowledge very rarely incorporates puraatan itihaasic sources. This must be why you get all these paintings showing Singhs decked out in flashy armor like the Desi Knights Templar, when historical sources are pretty unanimous that they dressed very lightly in that period - wore barely anything except their kakkars. 

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5 hours ago, 5akaalsingh said:

Indeed. Copies usually had the usual addition of colours. For example, you can see the person in the same pose, same facial features but the garb would be changed. Instead of light colours, that were used in the prototypes, they added more bright ones. However, that also depended on the painting material the artist had. Living on hills meant shortage of material. That's why Sikh Empire era paintings had more colours. Maharaja Ranjit Singh gave patronage to many Pahari artists, giving birth to an artistic renaissance. Too bad, after the British, all that went lost.  

Now, we have to base on SGPC commissioned art, which has no resemblance to the beautiful traditional "desi" art.

It's true, and unfortunate, but the British were at one point very keen on documenting the Sikhs (for purposes of recon I suppose, getting to know the enemy). We wouldn't know half the stuff we do about the era of the Sikhs Misls and Empire if not for their drawings and accounts -  apnaay have always been notoriously bad at documenting and preserving their itihaas. Just look at all the historical buildings, frescoes and artworks which our lot have destroyed, painted over or replaced with their beloved tacky white marble. We seem to have lost most of our creativity as a people. 

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10 hours ago, 5akaalsingh said:

Modern style Mughal miniatures are directly related to purataan art. There are many original paintings that have lot of similarities with the ones you posted. 

Artists usually copied older paintings, adding more colours

he has said that it is all his kalpana , not copies ...he also does many many devi devtey , muslim calligraphy and mughal style portraits like shah Jahan , Aurangzeb

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8 minutes ago, Balkaar said:

Now that you mention it it is odd. Guru Tegh Bahadur appears to be the only Guru whose persona underwent a complete overhaul in Sikh art. I suppose since all art is a reflection of the imagination, and since Guru Tegh Bahadur was known more for his bhagti than for any military feat (to my knowledge he undertook no campaigns against foes), this is how Sobha Singh imagined he must have looked. An honest mistake probably. 

This is a trend in contemporary Sikh art, artists representing the figures of our history based on what they know of them - and this knowledge very rarely incorporates puraatan itihaasic sources. This must be why you get all these paintings showing Singhs decked out in flashy armor like the Desi Knights Templar, when historical sources are pretty unanimous that they dressed very lightly in that period - wore barely anything except their kakkars. 

Guru ji went to battle as a youth thus his name from Tyag Mal to Teg Bahadur...but his true essence was to be tied to Akal Purakh's charan

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Whatever the art style and period, I've always been struck by the depiction of Guru Tegh Bahadhur, which seems to be fairly standardised throughout the centuries. The grey / white streak in their beard underneath the bottom lip is a common distinguishing feature in various portraits of theirs. It's a pretty specific detail. Is that something that's been mentioned in a sakhi, etc?

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1 hour ago, Balkaar said:

and since Guru Tegh Bahadur was known more for his bhagti than for any military feat (to my knowledge he undertook no campaigns against foes), this is how Sobha Singh imagined he must have looked. An honest mistake probably. 

He was involved in his father's (Guru Hargobind ji's) earliest battles as a young man. As jkv points out, his bravery and ability with a sword caused a name change, hence Tegh Bahadur (The brave sword). So he did take part in campaigns from a young age. The surviving images of him point at Guru ji's well built, regal warrior essence, so I think the modern Sobha Singh depiction is a complete re-imagining. 

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Guest AjeetSinghPunjabi

I am always in disbelief whenever someone says that Guru Gobind singh ji were short in height . Yogi bhajan said 10th guru were only 5feet 4 inches. and his hands reached till his knees when standing . I heard this from other people also.

I always thought puratan singhs were always 6 feet tall or more . Pathans are very tall , so if you gotta fight them, u have to be tall . Marathas were known to be short-heighted on the other hand. 

I am only 5'5" in height . Whenever I come across a well-built singh who is taller than 6 feet, I feel like he's from olden times lol 

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Guest AjeetSinghPunjabi

This is photo of Guru Gobind Singh ji in Hazur sahib . It looks quite different from their standard pics, no ? also that kalgi though looks nothing of the sort we see in today's pics . also turbans not covering ear

 

350th-birth-anniversary-celebrations-of-Guru-Gobind-Singh-in-Patna.jpg

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