Nikky-Guninder Kur's 'Janamsakhi' gives a peek into rich Sikh art

Pictorial representations of the janamsakhis or stories about the life of Guru Nanak have been vital expressions of Sikh devotion. These paintings provided some of the earliest examples of Sikh art and wherever sizeable and influential communities developed, familiar stories were rendered by artists. Nikki-Guninder Kaur Singh’s new book, ‘Janamsakhi’, takes a deep look at the B40 Janamsakhi, belonging to the small surviving collection of early janamsakhis.

B40 surfaced in Lahore in the 19th century and the Indian Office Library acquired it in 1907, giving it the accession number B40. It is currently housed at the British Library in London. Its 57 iconotexts narrate the life of the first Sikh Guru from his first day at school to his final moments. Artist Alam Chand Raj’s illustrations do not conform to the elite art or glamourous court paintings popular with the audiences of Indian art. Instead, they depict the Guru’s existentiality in simple everyday scenes. The paintings are infused with Punjabi art, Chaurapanchasika style and folk art style of the Rajasthani Malwa School.

The artwork is complemented by the rich text by Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, head of the Department of Religious Studies at Colby College, US. The author says that the volume aims to open up art works of B40 to the public sphere so they can be accessed across religions, cultures and races and perhaps prompt one to discover affinities with other works of South Asian art.