Shrine of Raja Ranjit Singh’s Father

Gujranwala: It is an old historical building now a days being used as a truck ada[Truck Stand] by a pahalwan[wrestler]. It is the Smadi of (Shrine) Ranjit Singh’s Father Maha Singh . This building is situated on G.T. Road opposite to Dastiger’s PSO petrol pump; ahead Saharawala bag in Gujranwala. This is unfortunate enough that people are perusing this building and place to convert it to a commercial building instead of preserving its historical importance.


Ranjit Singh was born in the Punjabi town of Gujranwala (now in Pakistan), into a Sikh family of Waraich Sukerchakia misldars. At the time, much of Punjab was ruled by the Sikhs under a Confederate Sarbat Khalsa system as well as Afghans, who had divided the territory among factions known as misls. Ranjit Singh’s father Maha Singh was the Commander of the Sukerchakia misl and controlled a territory in west Punjab based around his headquarters at Gujranwala. Ranjit Singh succeeded his father at the young age of 12. After several campaigns, his rivals accepted him as their leader, and he united the Sikh factions into one entity.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/history-of-sikhism/24885-shrine-raja-ranjit-singh-s-father.html


Maha Singh was born in the mid 1700s. His son was the Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who was born towards the end of the century. The reality of the Sikh kingdom under Ranjit Singh, was largely made possible by him. Before and after the birth of Ranjit, he conquered vast areas of the Punjab. As well as winning a vast following of the Khalsa forces, he was allied with a coalition of other Sikh states. It is possible to say, that was one of the writers of the fate of the Sikhs and the glorious Sikh kingdom.

 
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I wish I had a lot of money and could buy these places and fix them up. This is heart-breaking. It is just a building. Still it breaks my heart.

AAd ji,
I may be a "?????" but all this is a small cog in the wheel of the policy of destruction of Sikhs...their language..their history..their identity...their religious authorities....their religion...

The language..the history..the forts....the people.

The language is part of official Govt policy and visible..all the way back to 1950's..when ONLY PUNJABI was denied its own State while the other 14 official languages were Reorganised on language lines immediately. Sikhs had to wage a long campaign, courting large scale arrests - 50,000 Sikhs went To Jail and Delhi Police for the First time Lathi-charged the biggest PEACEFUL March ever seen for PUNJABI SUBA Even the Slogan PunjabI Suba Zindabad was Banned !! When PM Shahstree decided to accede to this legitimate demand..the entrenched anti-Punjabi/Sikh Civil Servants in Govt plotted to make it as small as possible...large chunks of punjabi speaking areas were left out, and given to Himachal Pardesh, Haryana ( Hindi States that came as a free gift without the people even asking !!) Punjabs WATERS, Electrical Generating Head Works, Bhakhara Dam, etc etc were taken over by the Centre ( NO other State has this arrangement), its CAPITAL was taken away..its UNIVERSITY was given to Himachal..and when a New one was set up..it was moved to Chandigarh..a capital under the centre and SHARED by Haryana !! the 1960 census that was heavily RIGGED due to Punjabi Hindus declaring their mother language as HINDI ( while speaking to the Census officers in PUNJABI !!) was used as abse..when the earlier census showed entirely different (true) figures.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=24885

2. Punjabi Language was NEVER implemented in PUNJAB...even after Punjabi State was declared...its ONLY in PUNJAB that one will NEVER SEE Punjabi Signboards....only Hindi/English...ALL govt work is in Hindi/English. Then through a systematic policy Punjabi was pushed out of the School System...making it a non-essential subject....and since the most Punjabi students (Sikhs) were from RURAL AREAS...the Rural schools were left without teachers, funding, books...there are as many as 700 schools at any one time.....with NO teachers for years on end...year on and year ON...

3. The SGPC was then helmed by an avowed communist GSTohra who became President....and then NEVER HELD ELECTIONS for nearly 25 YEARS. This is simple..the SGPC is run under the Govt Act of 1925..and the Govt decides on Elections.....NO ELECTIONS..their preferred "candidate"carries on...and the SIKHS couldnt do anything....Tohra is the one who brought in the SANT BRIGADE into the SGPC istensibly to REBUILD HISTORIC GURDWARAS....( as SGPC had no time/money /skills). These Sants known as the KAR SEWA SANTS..systematically DESTROYED ALL VESTIGES of any HISTORY..in ALL gurdwaras...filling up historicla wells, pulling down historic buildings, walls etc etc, cutting down historic trees....and REBUILDING IDENTICAL MARBLE GURDWARAS that look exactly alike...at great expense..all collected from the Sikh Sangats.
It was also during the Tohra Administartion that Large Scale recruitment of TAKSALI/SANT DERA trained Granthis, ardassiahs etc were taken in..and those trained in the SGPC Sikh missionary College were sidelined...RESULT...Each and every Takhat jathedar, Granthi, Ragi etc is today a DERA Trained..Vedanti was one such,,the present Gurcharan Singh is also one such..and any Missionary Applicant is vehemently OPPOSED and never recruited. Thus NO Women Participation in Harmandir shaib Kiratn etc problems persist against the very SGPC Maryada approved but NOT IMPLEMENTED in its own Headquarters...a travesty fo justice/gurmatt >>>>

The LATEST DESTRUCTION of SIKH HERITAGE took place under the guise of celebrating the 400th Gurgadi Diwas in Hazoor Sahib Hyderabad...ALL Historical Places and small buildings, trees etc etc were PULLED DOWN and levelled to..."make place for large gathering of sikhs..that NEVER took Place no thanks to thier Insistence to Having Parkash of the DSM GRANTH on PAR with Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.Here too the biggest participants were these same SANTS

At other places in the PUNJAB..the Forts of Chipp Chherri near Chandigarh...( forts of Banda Singh bahadur)...forts in Amrtisar....historical places such as the houses of mata Sundree Ji, Mata Jiti ji..Mata ganga Ji..Bebe Nanki Ji...are slowly being neglected and pushed under...There is NO MORE naything historical at Fateh Garh Sahib..the WALL of Shaheedee of the sahibzadahs is buried under a marble Gurdwara...the Cold Burz where Mata Gujree ji was improisoned is a small rebuilt shadow of its former self..

WHAT happened to the THOUSAND HISTORICAL PLACES..bungas, bazaars etc of GURU RAMDASS Ji and succeeding Sikh sardars in and AROUND HARMANDAR SAHIB Amrtisar....all DEMOLISHED in the name of Ghalirah scheme..to "beautify" the place !!...being replaced with newly rising multi strey car parks and commercial hotels...

ITS NOT a question of MONEY....the SGPC Annual BUDGET RIVALS that of the PUNJAB GOVT !!! Its the LACK OF WILL.....the wilfull destruction..either visibly or through neglect..closing of both eyes...
The SIKH REFERENCE LIBRARY..containing tons of valuable Sikh history documents manuscripts..Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji birs handwritten copies, Gurus artifacts....all carted away and LOOTED...25 Years on still waiting for a Govt explanation of its whereabouts.... just like the 1984 Holocaust... Victims of Delhi.....waiting.....for JUSTICE !!
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=24885

And if that wanst enough..these same Karsewaks have now turned their attention to the historical Gurdwars left..in PAKISTAN...to finish off whats left...and SIKHS are still sleeping soundly....except the one or two..like the ones running the Sikh Heritage sites...amandeep singh madra...Lone voice in the Wilderness....SO SAD. and Heartbreaking...

Gyani ji
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=24885

All a heartache as I read your words. Without you to keep track of these here in the forum even more of us would go unaware of the tragedy. Still if I had a fortune -- I would use some of it to preserve these sites of the Gurus.

aad ji,

whats even worse..is the wilfull destruction of....Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Birs under guise of calling them "birdh..old...and fit for saskaar..cremation. Under this "campaign"..the SANTS have been going all over the world, collecting old copies of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and taking them to cremation centres. There is no control and no one to check whether Handwritten, ancient copies of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji are being destroyed. ALL people interested in keeping their history alive.... take all sorts of measures to RETAIN and KEEP SAFE all old manuscripts, birs, etc..even a Printed sroop "gains a sort of intrinsic value".....as it ages....so there is NO EXCUSE to "cremate" any Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Bir under any circumstances...unless it has been checked and authenticated as printed sroop available as copies elsewhere...and is damaged..otherwise NO OLD COPY should be destroyed under any circumstances...BUT this is NOT so..thousands of old copies have been cremated...what a collossal WASTE and wilful destruction of one of our most important "historical resource"...invaluable treasure. No one seesm to be able to STOP this...the Sants continue unabated...