Peter Johal

Anandpur Chronicles Peter Johal

"... In today's racially-charged landscape, the customs of Sikhs, particularly the customary turban for males, have been misunderstood, and Sikh men have been victims of hate crimes after being mistaken for terrorists... "

"... In many ways, this book lifts the veil of the unknown regarding Sikhism. Anyone who would like to learn more about this historic culture, but is unwilling to dig through mounds of research and articles will find this book of photography highly educational and enriching."
--The US Review of Books

From the outside, Sikhism and the Sikh population, has been diluted into a pool along other religions that come from the same geographical region. Sikhism, in fact, is quite unique in its own right. Religion, culture, and mores have features that are shared with none. Equality and humanity are some of these features that separate this particular faith, and protecting these beliefs have had turbulent times in history. Anandpur was an integral part of this protection of beliefs.
Anandpur was first settled by the ninth teacher of the Sikhs, Guru Tegh Bahadur. He settled away from other Sikh centres at the time, due to corruption within the religion. He raised his son, the tenth teacher of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh, whom raised his sons here as well.
It was the tenth teacher he made the most significant contributions in Anandpur. While it was Guru Tegh Bahadur that sparked the inspiration, after being beheaded for not converting religions, the stage was set for the tenth teacher to lead Sikhs into an identity that was all their own. This was not pertaining only in their religious belief, but communicating to the world symbolically with the designation of the 5 K's Sikhs wear to identify themselves throughout society.
I am putting forth a tour of the great historical location of Anandpur through my photos and brief history of Anandpur, that I hope people will enjoy, and hopefully inspires more education into a very deep history in the relatively short existence of this faith. The English translations of names are gender neutral translations, in an attempt to support some of the equality issues.