 Mid-19th century painting of a metalworking shop | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| India | |
| Languages | |
| Hindi, Punjabi | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism, Sikhism |
The Thathera (literally meaning 'the beater', [1] also known as Thathrias [2] ) is a Hindu and Sikh artisan caste in India, whose traditional occupation is the making of brass and copper utensils.[ citation needed ] In 2014, the craft of the Thathera community of Jandiala Guru was included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. [3]
The Thathera communities of Punjab played a prominent role in developing the Sikh School of metal relief artwork. [1] [2] Many of the surviving gilded brass and copper panels affixed to the edifices of the Golden Temple or Gurdwara Baba Atal Rai were crafted by Thathera craftsmen or guilds in the 19th and early 20th century. [1] The most renowned Thatheras for creating metal panel art were located in Kucha Fakirkhana, Lahore. [1] Only three or four Thathera families in Amritsar have preserved the knowledge on how to execute this form of metalworking art at present. [2]
In Bihar, the Thatheras are classified as a Backward Caste. [4]
Although people of the Thathera community reside across the country, only those from Jandiala Guru in the state of Punjab were included in the UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. [5]
After years of neglect and inaction on the part of the government and the civil society, the UNESCO listing prompted the Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar to collaborate with students of Shri Ram College of Commerce to revive the dying craft form. [6] Soon, Navjot Singh Sidhu, the then Minister of Tourism of Punjab pledged Rs. 10 lakhs to this effort, under the umbrella of Project Virasat. [7] [8]
Sikhs are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term Sikh has its origin in the Sanskrit word śiṣya, meaning 'seeker', 'disciple' or 'student'.
Amritsar, historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as Ambarsar, is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre. The city is the administrative headquarters of the Amritsar district. It is situated 217 km (135 mi) north-west of Chandigarh, and 455 km (283 mi) north-west of New Delhi. It is 28 km (17.4 mi) from the India-Pakistan border, and 47 km (29 mi) north-east of Lahore, Pakistan.
Ranjit Singh was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839. He ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He survived smallpox in infancy but lost sight in his left eye. He fought his first battle alongside his father at age 10.
Navjot Singh Sidhu is an Indian politician from the Indian National Congress, television personality and retired international cricketer. He is the former President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Formerly, he was the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs in the state government of State of Punjab. Sidhu joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2004 and contested the general election from Amritsar that year. He won the election and held the seat till 2014 winning also the next election. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2016 from Punjab before he resigned from the position the same year and quit the party. In 2017, he joined the Indian National Congress and was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly from Amritsar East. He lost in 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election from Amritsar East Assembly constituency.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee is an organization in India responsible for the management of gurdwaras, Sikh places of worship, in the states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and the union territory of Chandigarh. SGPC also administers Darbar Sahib in Amritsar.
Tarn Taran Sahib is a city in the Majha region of the state of Punjab, in northern India. It is the district headquarters and hosts the municipal council of Tarn Taran district. Gurdwara Sri Tarn Taran Sahib, a prominent Sikh shrine, is located in the central part of the city.
The Akal Takht is one of five takhts of the Sikhs. It is located in the Darbar Sahib complex in Amritsar, Punjab, India. The Akal Takht was built by Guru Hargobind as a place of justice and consideration of temporal issues; the highest seat of earthly authority of the Khalsa and the place of the Jathedar, the highest spokesman of the Sikhs.
Gurdwārā Bābā AṭṭalRāi is a famous Gurdwara in Amritsar dedicated to Atal Rai, a son of Guru Hargobind and Mata Nanaki. It consists of nine stories and is around forty metres in height. It is just a short walk from the famous Harmandir Sahib.
Ravidassia or the Ravidas Panth is a religion based on the teachings of Guru Ravidas. It was considered a sect within Sikhism until 2009. However, some Ravidassias continue to maintain Sikh religious practices, including the reverence of the Guru Granth Sahib as their focal religious text, wearing Sikh articles of faith (5Ks), and appending Singh or Kaur to their names.
Indian Sikhs number approximately 21 million people and account for 1.7% of India's population as of 2011, forming the country's fourth-largest religious group. The majority of the nation's Sikhs live in the northern state of Punjab, which is the only Sikh-majority administrative division in the world.
The Sikhs are adherents to Sikhism, the fifth largest organized religion in the world, with around 25 million adherents. Sikh History is around 500 years and in that time the Sikhs have developed unique expressions of art and culture which are influenced by their faith and synthesize traditions from many other cultures depending on the locality of the adherents of the religion. Sikhism is the only religion that originated in the Punjab region with all other religions coming from outside Punjab. All the Sikh gurus, many saints, and many of the martyrs in Sikh history were from Punjab and from the Punjabi people. Punjabi culture and Sikhism are mistakenly considered inseparably intertwined. "Sikh" properly refers to adherents of Sikhism as a religion, strictly not an ethnic group. However, because Sikhism has seldom sought converts, most Sikhs share strong ethno-religious ties, therefore it is a common stereotype that all Sikhs share the same ethnicity. Many countries, such as the U.K., therefore misconcievingly recognize Sikh as a designated ethnicity on their censuses. The American non-profit organization United Sikhs has fought to have Sikhs included on the U.S. census as well, arguing that Sikhs "self-identify as an 'ethnic minority'" and believe "that they are more than just a religion".
Jandiala Guru, commonly known as Jandiala, is a town in the Amritsar district of Punjab, India. It is located on the Grand Trunk Road, and has an altitude of 229 m (754 ft).
The Sehdev is a clan associated with the Rajput community, predominantly found in Punjab and Rajasthan. The Rajputs, whose name is derived from "Rajputra" meaning "son of a king," are traditionally part of the Kshatriya varna, known for their warrior and ruling class status.
Punjab is a state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the north and northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, and Rajasthan to the southwest; by the Indian union territories of Chandigarh to the east and Jammu and Kashmir to the north. It shares an international border with Punjab, a province of Pakistan to the west. The state covers an area of 50,362 square kilometres, which is 1.53% of India's total geographical area, making it the 19th-largest Indian state by area out of 28 Indian states. With over 27 million inhabitants, Punjab is the 16th-largest Indian state by population, comprising 23 districts. Punjabi, written in the Gurmukhi script, is the most widely spoken and the official language of the state. The main ethnic group are the Punjabis, with Sikhs (57.7%) and Hindus (38.5%) forming the dominant religious groups. The state capital, Chandigarh, is a union territory and also the capital of the neighbouring state of Haryana. Three tributaries of the Indus River — the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi — flow through Punjab.
The Golden Temple (also known as the Harmandir Sahib, or the Darbār Sahib, is a gurdwara located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. It is the pre-eminent spiritual site of Sikhism. It is one of the holiest sites in Sikhism, alongside the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Kartarpur, and Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib.
The Singh Sabhā Movement, also known as the Singh Sabhā Lehar, was a Sikh movement that began in Punjab in the 1870s in reaction to the proselytising activities of Christians, Hindu reform movements and Muslims. The movement was founded in an era when the Sikh Empire had been dissolved and annexed by the British, the Khalsa had lost its prestige, and mainstream Sikhs were rapidly converting to other religions. The movement's aims were to "propagate the true Sikh religion and restore Sikhism to its pristine glory; to write and distribute historical and religious books of Sikhs; and to propagate Gurmukhi Punjabi through magazines and media." The movement sought to reform Sikhism and bring back into the Sikh fold the apostates who had converted to other religions; as well as to interest the influential British officials in furthering the Sikh community. At the time of its founding, the Singh Sabha policy was to avoid criticism of other religions and political matters.
Taragarh Talawa is a village which now officially called Taragarh located at two kilometers from Jandiala Guru, Amritsar district, Punjab, India on the Grand Trunk Road, located at 31° 33' 41N 75° 1'36E at an altitude of 229 m (754 ft).
Sikh art, also known as the Sikh School, is the artwork created by or associated with Sikhs and Sikhism. Sikh artwork exists in many forms, such as miniature, oil, and watercolour paintings, murals, and wood carvings. The first Sikh artists were influenced by the Pahari and Mughal schools, however the ushering in of European influences during the colonial-age would transform Sikh art by adoping Western methods and tastes for artwork.
Amritsar is a city situated in the state of northern Punjab, the northwestern region of India. It is 25 kilometres away from the Pakistan border. This important Punjab city is the main centre of commerce, culture, and transportation. It is the centre of Sikhism and the principal place of worship for Sikhs. Amritsar is attractive destination for tourists, especially those part of Golden Triangle. Major destinations are:
Amritsar is and was the second largest city of East Punjab and United Punjab. It is a Big Commercial, Trading, Textile and Tourist hub of Punjab. There is a proposed Software Technology Park at Amritsar to make it an IT hub. This STPI centre will be functional by the next fiscal year.