It was the powerful voice of 71-year-old retired Major General Trevor Morlin that gave a call to the faithfuls of the Sikh community in Ontario to let truth prevail at the opening of the landmark The Art of the Sikh Kingdoms exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum. There was a beating of drums and two young Sikhs, wearing colourful turbans and satin lungis like most Bhangra dancers, held a ribbon across two sides and then like a warrior, Morlin descended from the podium, unsheathed the sword and cut the ribbon. The retired general, who commanded the 17th battalion of the Sikh Regiment in 1963-64 and retired from the Indian Army in 1979, roared Bole So Nihal..., and over 400 people in the hall echoed back, Sat Sri Akal.

With the drums still beating, the crowd folowed the drummers and Bhangra dancers to the section of the museum that housed the exhibition on the Sikh Kingdoms. Organised by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the exhibition is the most extensive display of the art of the Sikh kingdoms ever shown in North America. A magnificent array of textiles, Pashmina and Phulkari shawls, rugs, armaments, head gear, paintings and books on display, reflect the rich cultural history of the Sikhs. Then there is the rare Janam Sakhi illuminated by paintings, which tell the life story of Guru Nanak.

The exhibition will close on August 20 when the artefacts will be returned to the Victoria and Albert Museum. About 50 rare pieces have been loaned by private Sikh collectors in Canada. The sword used by Morlin to cut the ribbon, too, has an interesting story. This sword, which has an inscription, was presented by the 17th Sikh Regiment to Morlin in 1964 when he took command of the 8th battalion of the regiment. For some unexplained reason, to which Morlin himself has no answer, the sword landed in an antique store in Toronto. "When I moved to Canada in 1979, I gave all my medals and uniforms to the Museum of the Sikh Regiment, except the sword and some other artefacts, which I gave to my son and son-in-law. Although the two have not opened the boxes where all these things were kept, I just don't know how the sword landed in an antique shop here," said Morlin.

The organisers took care to give the exhibition a true secular colour by inviting Steve Gupta, a Hindu businessman, Riaz Khan, a Pakistani-Canadian businessman, and Suresh Bhalla, a Sikh and also in the organising committee, to join Morlin on the podium to cut the ribbon. Seema Bharadia, curator of the South Asian Gallery at the ROM, later announced that they would publish a separate catalogue of the Canadian collection for permanent record.

ROM has initiated an extensive advertising campaign to induce Canadians and also people from south of the border to visit this outstanding exhibition. The entrance to the exhibition is dominated by a striking painting of The Golden Temple, showing it at the centre of the sacred pool, in all its shimmering glory. On entering the museum, the visitors are struck by a beautiful, golden and ivory image of the Golden Temple which, says Bharadia, has been on loan since 1939 to ROM from the Royal Collections, where it was sent for safekeeping prior to World War II.

-- Ajit Jain/IANS