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Weapons of Guru Gobind Singh's 'Shastar Nam Mala.'

The Chief Khalsa Diwans museum boasts of 75 weapons mentioned in the ShastarNaam Mala penned by Guru Gobind Singh.

Weapons on display at the Chief Khalsa Diwan museum located on the Central KhalsaOrphanage premises in Amritsar.

You may have seen museums preserving articles of historic importance for posterity, butin a unique initiative, the Chief Khalsa Diwan here has got the weapons of the times of Guru Gobind Singh made afresh on the basis of their description in Shastar Naam Malacompiled in Dasam Granth and showcased them in a museum.

When The Tribune team stepped into the museum, located on the premises of CentralKhalsa Orphanage here on Thursday, it was pleasantly surprised to see shimmeringweapons tastefully displayed in glass cabinets with each weapon having its namementioned in Punjabi and English. At the centre of the museum is a huge portrait of GuruGobind Singh and below it is a picture frame displaying a few verses of Shastar NaamMala, a composition mentioning the names of weapons used during his lifetime. Oneither side of the Gurus photograph are two huge spears --- Wada Sela and Naagni Wadi.

While Wada Sela was used to tear apart shields sitting atop an elephant on thebattleground, Naagni Wadi is a type of spear with its head in serpentine shape, withwhich Bhai Bachitter Singh took on a drunken elephant during the second battle of Anandpur.

The museum till now has succeeded in procuring 75 weapons mentioned in the ShastarNaam Mala. These include shamsheer, marthi, sela barchha, baaghnakha, faadi guraj,saithi, kadara, safajang, bugda, kirch, karauti, khanda, wadkari, kattas, shikarga,badamcha to name a few.

On the one hand, you have baaghnakha, a claw-like weapon designed to fit over theknuckles and on the other you have jamdaadh, two-blade dagger which looks like demontooth. Then there is sarohi (a special sword), bichhua (crooked dagger), asi (curvedsword), and different types of arrows. The museum also boasts of microfilms of 67hukamnamas (edicts) of various Sikh gurus, which include 24 of Guru Gobind Singh, 28of Guru Teg Bahadur, six of Guru Hargobind and eight of Mata Sundari. Surprisingly,

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not many people are aware about the museum which came up about a couple of yearsback.

Orphanage official Daljeet Singh Bedi and Superintendent BS Saini said the museum wasa treasure trove of knowledge for the new generation. Though the Diwan authorities say

it is open to all, no effort seems to have been made to draw the visitors. Not even a boardhas been put up outside the orphanages main entrance highlighting the museum.

Dwelling on the genesis of the idea, the Chief Khalsa Diwans honorary secretary andorphanage in charge Bhaag Singh Ankhi said he would often read the names of weapons,while reciting gurbaani and would wonder how they would have been. One day Idecided to raise a museum in which we can put on display all such weapons so that thenext generation not only reads about them but can also see them. First I zeroed in on anexpert who could guide me in this job. Then I travelled to Maharasthra, Agra , Patiala andDamdama Sahib in search of these weapons. Sikligars of Maharashtra were a great helpin reproducing these weapons while the Nihangs also chipped in with their effort, he

averred. On publicising the museum, he said they would take the necessary measures inthis regard very soon so that the people, including non-Sikhs, can be sensitised on Sikhhistory.

The Shastar Naam Mala is made of 1,318 verses spread over five chapters in 98 pagesin the Dasam Granth. The opening chapter of 27 verses is an invocation to Bhagauti(sword) for assistance and contains the names of 30 weapons. Here the sword ispersonified as God. In the list that follows, the weapons of the day are presented underfanciful names, such as Baaghnakha, Toofani Gola, Naagani Wadi and AradhChandar Teer. Many of the weapons are listed in the form of riddles. The secondchapter, having 47 verses, revolves around chakra (spears and quoit) though it alsomentions about sword, jamdadh and sehthi. There are 178 verses which dwell ondifferent names of arrow, while another 858 verses name modern weapons like the gun.

Perneet Singh/TNS, Sunday, January 2, 2011.