Portraiture of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism: colonial transformation and the social role

Abstract

ABSTRACT Today, single portraits representing Guru Nanak are very popular among the Sikhs and are frequently hung on the walls of houses and temples. It is during the Singh Sabha Movement from the 1870s that portraits of Guru Nanak came to be hung on the walls of Sikhs' temple and house by the urban middle class. Wall-hung portraits of Guru Nanak symbolises the uniqueness of Sikhism and, since they were painted both in a unique three-quarter face and in a Hindu-like frontal, Guru Nanak portraiture has played a pivotal role in social cohesion among the Sikhs who belonged to different factions.