Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Late Gurupurab Celebrations at Sikhi Art

Machhiwara was supposed to done by January, and was set to be released on Jan 5. At that point I had recieved the constructive criticism, I had asked for and I got back to work. Took a couple of weeks to straighten out the setting and composition, and so the painting was delayed.
But now that it is out... Happy late Guru purab to everyone!! :P

So, what's next? Well, I have no plans on working on any painting till summer. But when I do get started, Akali Phula Singh is next. It is a along awaited painting, and I have been aching to get to it!

So what is Machhiwara, what is it about?
Well, after being attacked several times by the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb's army, Guru Gobind Singh ji is forced to flee from the Anandpur fort to Chamkaur. During the escape, the weather was insane, and it flooded the river, Sirsa, that Guru Sahib had to cross. In the chaos, his mother and younger sahibzaadey's are separated from him, and are eventually doomed in the false courts of Sirhind.
As Guru Sahib takes shelter in a haveli in Chamkaur, he is again attacked by the Mughal forces. This time his older sons fall in the intense battle that takes place. Odds were stacked aagainst him, Guru Sahib had to flee once again. This time he had nothing left all his devotees had been martyred, and his family was lost. The great cause he was fighting for seemed to be slipping away from his grip. However, as Guru Gobind Singh ji meditates in Machhiwara, he keeps himself in the highest of spirits. Exhausted from warfare, he rests here overnight, and is eventually saved by his Muslim devotees in the morning.

Machhiwara, undoubtly, is a symbolic painting. Everything around Guru Sahib symbolizes his chardi kala attitude, and the rise of Khalsa.

Click on the image below to access close-ups, larger image, buying options, etc.

4 comments:

Unknown said...
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Dassan Dassa said...

brother! i'm ashamed for discovering you only now, amazinggggg work..trust me ur bookmarked, not losin you

dhan guru nanak!

Manveet Singh said...

Someone took your art, and changed it to look like yours :\ I wonder why would someone do that https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=395504844990&set=a.283673779990.37531.238027439990&type=1
It was a good thing that I had seen the Machhiwara work lonng back, so I could recognize it as a copy.

I got your work's direct link to it, but the admin (https://www.facebook.com/sunnysinghbagga) just wouldn't remove it.
I tried my best :|

Love your work jio!!

Bhagat Singh Bedi said...

Thanks for informing me Manveet Singh ji!
That image is actually a work in progress image of Machhiwara that I posted in an artist forum to get critiques (that obviously helped as the final version is much better). I will remove the work in progress images from that website.

As for facebook, the admin used the image probably because it had no watermark. However they linked to my website and I am fine with that.

Thanks again; I appreciate the effort.