THE Khalsa Heritage Complex at Anandpur Sahib is being raised to symbolise the splendid glory of the Khalsa Panth created by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and the last Sikh Guru.

The massive complex will house a huge library, exhibition galleries and a 400-seat auditorium. They are all under construction at present.

The main portion of the complex will be surrounded by an art gallery which would exhibit historical paintings depicting the struggle of the Khalsa against the Mughal empire. The whole structure would be embellished with exquisite miniature paintings and carvings. Virtually, every stone in the complex would be carved or chiselled out with delicate filigree work. The stones will be cut and laid alongside and on top of one another with nothing but their weight and the perfection of their shape to hold them together.

"With a view to depict as well as recall the Sikhs’ saga of struggle and valour, sacrifice and courage, and progress and excellence, top priority is being given to the completion of a museum which will be unique," confides Piara Singh Bhopal, nodal officer of the Anandpur Sahib Foundation.

The foundation has engaged the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, for designing the art galleries. A core group of eminent scholars and historians have prepared the ‘concept paper’ of the complex, focusing on a number of cardinal principles of the Sikh faith—universality, equality, freedom of conscience, social justice, ethical living, heroism and martyrdom, chardhi kala, love, service and sacrifice, harmony with nature, man as custodian of life, dignity, self-respect and honour, and elevation of the lowly.

The complex, as it is being raised, would be a juxtaposition of the traditional display of holy relics, historical artefacts and other objects with modern technological inputs to make it a ‘speaking’ museum. The modern techniques to be used will include interpretation with light & sound, integration of artefacts for storytelling, recreation of historical events, and use of computer-controlled lighting to create an aura, laser and fibre optics to depict events, large format holograms and 3D projections to recreate historical scenes, movement of sound through intelligent controls and the use of animatronics, interactive multi-media and cyberspace.

Rajeev Arora, a young project engineer, is quite optimistic about the completion of the project well on time. He said, "Despite inadequate funds, we have been marching forward towards the completion of the project. We are quite hopeful that the Punjabis settled abroad will contribute generously." Kamal Malan Jain of Rajasthan, a senior supervisor with the Larsen & Toubro Ltd, however, said the project would take much more time than estimated for its completion.

An on-the-spot assessment of the work on the Khalsa heritage complex falsifies the commonly held view that it will go the way the Goindwal Sahib Complex went about 20 years ago. The project at Goindwal Sahib had not matured at all.