Bhai Mati Das Museum
| Established | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Location | 110006 Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi, India |
| Type | Sikh museum |
| Owner | Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee |
The Bhai Mati Das Museum (BMDM), also known as the Bhai Mati Das Sati Das Museum,[1] is a Sikh museum (ajaibghar[2]) located opposite of Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Bhai Mati Das Chowk, Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi, India.[3][4] The museum is dedicated to the Sikh martyrs Mati Das and Sati Das. The museum is managed by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. It is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on all days.[1] Visitors must remove footwear and cover their heads.[4][2]
History
The museum was established by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee in 2001 under the aegis of the Kar Seva baba Harbans Singh. The body purchased the Majestic cinema-hall across the gurdwara to convert it into a museum.[5][4][2] As per an information plaque at the museum's entrance, a story involving a Pathan with a paintbrush inspired its foundation. The plaque states that the museum was founded upon shaheedon ke khoon se rangi dharti ("site which is enriched with the blood of martyrs").[2]
Much of the museum's collection are the original paintings that the illustrated calendars on Sikh history that have been commissioned by the Punjab and Sind Bank since 1974 were based on, which were donated by the bank to the DSGMC for display in the museum.[5][4][2] Other sources claim the museum opened in 2005.[1] Amolak Singh was employed by the DSGMC to create paintings for the museum as its resident artist while the descriptions for the paintings' text-panels were written by unattributed Sikh scholars.[4][2]
Collection and site
The museum houses between 169 paintings related to Sikh history that are arranged chronologically, consisting of 166 oil-paintings and 3 printed posters.[4][6]: 4 The paintings are modern oil-paintings made in the western academic or realist style,[4][2] sometimes with anachronisms.[2] The paintings depict the Sikh gurus, their associates, and battles related to Sikh history. Each painting has a caption explaining it in Punjabi, Hindi, and English. 104 paintings depict the Sikh gurus, 21 depict 18th century Sikh figures, and 16 paintings depict Ranjit Singh. Its collection does not consist of any artefacts related to the Sikh gurus.[4] Amolak Singh estimated that he completed around a quarter of the paintings of the museum, with the rest being donated by the Punjab and Sind Bank.[7] Twenty-one paintings by Kirpal Singh are held by the museum.[8][9] The 1984 canvases by Kirpal Singh at the museum depict the martyrdoms of Bhai Dayal, Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das, Banda Singh Bahadur, and the martyrs of the Chhota Ghallughara.[3] Very few paintings depict events after the Sikh Empire, not covering critical events of the later 19th and 20th centuries.[2] The museum has two-stories and also has a travellers’ lodge and a dispensary on its premises. The museum is staffed by volunteers of the gurdwara who operate its entrance-desk.[4]
Artists
Artists whose works are included in its collection are Mehar Singh, Bodhraj, Kirpal Singh, Rahi Mohinder Singh, Jarnail Singh, and Amolak Singh.[2]
References
- 1 2 3 "Bhai Mati Das Sati Das Museum". Museums of India. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Singh, Kanika (January 2018). The Story of a Sikh Museum. Ashoka University. pp. 95–99.
- 1 2 Gupta, Sayan (2018). "Sikh Visual Culture in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries: Suffering, Trauma and Martyrdom". Sahapedia. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Singh, Kanika. "Bhai Mati Das Museum, Sisganj Gurdwara, Delhi". God's Collections. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
- 1 2 Singh, Kanika (9 April 2022). "Understanding Sikh Museums in Contemporary India". Economic and Political Weekly. LVII (15): 33–34 – via academia.edu.
- ↑ Singh, Kanika. “Introduction.” The Story of a Sikh Museum: Heritage, Politics, Popular Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025. 1–16. Print. Retrieved on 18 May 2026 from: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/story-of-a-sikh-museum/introduction/B1843D014776EF1BC1A61D1A11528341
- ↑ Sullivan, Bruce M., ed. (22 October 2015). "Sikh Museuming". Sacred Objects in Secular Spaces: Exhibiting Asian Religions in Museums. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 55. ISBN 9781472590824.
- ↑ Randhawa, Mohinder Singh. "The artist who made alive the history of the Punjab". Critical Collective (originally published in Roopa Lekha, Volumes 1–2, 1979–80, pp. 30–35). Retrieved 13 May 2026.
- ↑ Singh, Kanika. “Punjab & Sind Bank and the Creation of Sikh Heritage.” The Story of a Sikh Museum: Heritage, Politics, Popular Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025. p. 28. Print. Retrieved on 16 May 2026 from: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/story-of-a-sikh-museum/punjab-sind-bank-and-the-creation-of-sikh-heritage/DD9546B509EB1117E57E4E54CB3FE3D3