It is the norm to file stories about political rallies at Sikh religious centres which attract thousands of devotees at one or the other kind of festival. Having done that during the Hola Mohalla of 2005, I somehow felt that the reader should get something more to soak in the atmosphere. The colour and the smells which the throngs celebrating Hola Mohalla soak in don’t figure in stories about the petty politics on religious occasions. I wrote this piece to make up for the missing colours and smells, in whatever little way it was possible to do so.
Khalsa Fervour Cauldron Simmers With Faith,
Puritanism And Syncretism Traditions
S P Singh
Anandpur Sahib:
War cries of Bole So Nihal, balladeers singing hymns to martial streak of Sikhs, huge hoardings of slain militant leaders lining the roads, erstwhile Khalistanis displaying posters thanking Canada for acquitting Kanishka bombing accused and amid all of this Nihangs tending to huge cauldrons of 'Sukha', the bhang variant prepared at the centre of a city where intoxicants are officially banned and no Ponty can do anything about it.
Welcome to Hola Mohalla fervour of Anandpur Sahib, get drenched into a devout's version of Holi. It's absolutely holy. Religiosity throbbing in a vibrant democracy where amid the hustle and bustle of thousands of devotees praying at Khalsa's birthplace, near sedition and mainstream politics are vying for political turf.
Notwithstanding the political polemic, God and business were the only two things competing for centre stage. Hundreds of stalls lined the routes that devotees took to climb the steep gradient of this top temporal seat of Sikhs. Far away from the Akali Dal's rally, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who many had predicted to become an iconic figure after his death, had just about made it to calendars being sold for Rs 10 apiece. The stall wasn't doing great business.
Puritanism was the flavour in certain nooks of this huge mela. “RSS is real enemy of Sikhs” and “Ban migrants from purchasing land” were slogans in currency in a different nook. People, however, walked past the stalls to see Guru Nanak's and Bhindranwale's posters being sold alongside not just the ‘I-Love-You’ variety but also of a number of Hindu gods. If you forgot it was Good Friday, that cross being sold by the Nihang reminded you.
No, he didn't even know he was displaying a tradition of syncretism vis-a-vis some filtered Puritanism. Poor guy was even selling a tortoise in a jar.
People walked miles to reach Anandpur Sahib, they hitch-hiked their way atop tractor trolleys. Over three hundred years ago too, people must have walked miles to see the Guru who made sure his devotees could stand their ground and put up a fight for their cause. Now, the top Akali leader lands in a Mitsubishi, the Congress Chief Minister in a cavalcade complete with a bomb-jammer. Neither is seen having langar. But in spite of these politicians, the holy cows of our democracy, the festival remains holy. It has to. After all, it’s Khalsa's. Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa's.
March 25, 2005