Recently, social media influencer and socialite, Archana Makwana, went to the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar on International Yoga Day to perform Yoga Asanas. Archana meditated in the Harmandir Sahib, and proceeded to perform Shirsha Asana, an Asana mentioned in the Hatha Yoga scriptures, afterwards.
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Who is Archana Makwana?
Archana Makwana, who is 34 years old, went to Harmandir Sahib on International Yoga Day and served at the langar there. Afterwards, she meditated by the Amrit Sarovar, and then performed the Shirsha Asana by the Amrit Sarovar. After having herself photographed for doing langar and yoga asana, she left and uploaded the same to her social medias.
The Shirsha Asana is the same Asana that the first Prime Minister of Bharat, Shri Jawaharlal Nehru, was known to perform.
Archana Makwana was also close to several BJP leaders, believing in their vision for a pro-entrepreneur Panjab with laws such as the Farm Bills. Her pictures doing the Shirsha Asana have caught the ire of Sikhis due to her feet pointing at the Shikha of the Gurdwara. She is also known to associate herself with leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party, and hence is politically agnostic.
Netizens have debunked this online:
Archana Makwana has her own Fashion Line as well, named ‘Archana House’, and she has a sizable following on social media like Instagram as well.
Response by Gurudwara Governing Body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC)
In response to the Yog Darshan prayer done at the Harmandir Sahib, the SGPC quickly denounced this act and filed an FIR against Archana Makwana for her piety performed at Harmandir Sahib.
The Akal Takht Sahib Secretariat, Singh Sahib Giani Raghbir Singh, in his official statement condemning the actions of Archana Makwana, said the following:
Sikhism does not abandon its surrounding society nor indulge in superstitious practices like awakening horoscopes or performing torturous physical exercises for spiritual gain.
The entire statement included several points. Raghbir Singh ji clarified that the Gurudwara premises are for Gurbanis, for the remembrance of the SIkh Gurus, pious practices of all religions, and for teaching people to fight with martial arts like Gatak.
One can read the full statement here:
Many have also given it a political angle, with people pointing to the ties between Archana Makwana and Kangana Ranaut and other Panjabi BJP members like Tajinder Singh Bagga, for being the main reason that the lady was targeted.
There have also been several serious death threats, rape threats and other attacks directed towards Archana Makwana. This has caused more animosity between the Sikhi Panth and the people of other Indic faiths.
History between Yoga Darshana and Sikhi Panth
It wasn’t always like this. Sardar Twitter users, in defense of the SGPC, pointed at how Bhajans have been performed in the Harmandir Sahib by those sages looking for shelter.
So where did things go wrong, we must ask ourselves?
Many online have been quick to point out at the Guru Granth Sahib directly, to defend Archana Makwana, particularly at Ang 909 and Ang 941 which praise the Yoga Darshana while being critical of those who are doing the practice of Yoga without the Guru of the Deity in mind.
You can see some tweets here:
Decolonial historian TrueIndology has also gone over how artworks and paintings throughout Panjabi history have shown people doing Yoga Asana at Harmandir Sahib since the inception of the Sikhi Panth..
We can see some of those artworks here:
Yogic practices have been intertwined with Sikhi Panth since time immemorial. Guru Nanak’s son, Sri Chand, was the first Guru of the Udasi Yogic Sampradaya. The son of Guru Hargobind Singh was the second Guru of the Udasi Yogic Sampradaya. And finally, the son of Udasi Guru Gurditta, Guru Har Rai, became the 7th Guru of the Sikhi Pant. Many Gurus trained under Yogis and vice versa.
Yoga was a means to improve the physical and mental strength of the warrior path of the student, or the Sikhi Panth. While Gatak was an 18th century martial art, more traditional arts like Sanatan Shastra Vidya (contemporary to Kalaripayattu, another pan-Bharat martial art) were practiced. These martial arts were completely destroyed and hidden from the people by the British in the colonial period.
Many people would visit the Harmandir Sahib and do Yoga, and the Gurus held Yoga in high regard as well, provided that the name of Guru or God is not in one’s mind when performing the act of piety.
If the SGPC can prove an “ungodly” intention or perceived perversion behind the actions of Archana Makwana, their FIR would still stand on theological legs. Otherwise, their attempt is merely politically motivated, uninformed and dividing the social fabric of Panjab.
Reasons for this fissure
We see this attitude emerge within the Sikhi Panth because in other Panths of history, such as the Udasi Panth, the Shankaracharya Panth, Lingayat Panth and many other countless panths have been unable to carve their independent identity in the tapestry of Sanatan Dharm. Most Sanatanis put their “Pan-Hindu” identity first, and their Sampradaya second.
If the cherishing of the Guru and the Sampradaya takes precedence in the Sanatani tapestry, then maybe we can see this sort of conflict be undermined in the foreseeable future.
Conclusion
While Yoga in the west has taken a completely non-sampradayic turn, and become more perverse than spiritual, the Yoga of Bharat remains pristine despite attempts towards the other way. Yoga is spiritual, and those who do not teach the spiritual way of the Yoga Darshan are not true “Yoga’ teachers, but instead are teachers of Gymnastics.
The modern era, with mobile phones, social media and the attention economy, has blurred the lines between true piety and social media businesses. It is why almost all religious places today ban the mobile phone, unless permission is taken from authorities.
But if THAT is the case, then the SGPC should clarify it as such: that no cameras are allowed. That the woman was given 3 warnings before she was removed. That if Yoga is performed it must be in a certain manner, or in a certain outfit type, or in a certain manner, for it to be valid (or be “Indic”, so to speak).
While we may never know the depth of spirituality of Archana Makwana when performing Yoga at Harmandir Sahib, we can definitely expect better from the SGPC, beyond merely relapsing on Hinduphobic rhetoric when it comes to these incidents. Astrology is common in Panjab, just like it is in the rest of Bharat, or East Asia. Many Sikhis partake in it too, both in and outside of Panjab.
If the SGPC wants respect for the Panth, it must have to give it first. Meanwhile, the GoI would be doing a healing exercise for the Sikhi community if they gave a speedy trial on Jagdish Tytler and Kamal Nath and promised justice for the Sikhis against the INC and their actions.
But it does not change the fact that the SGPC should clarify why exactly is this act offensive, why are others including white Europeans, Jatt Sikhs and Muslims allowed to perform the exact same acts, and they should refrain from making derogatory remarks on other Sampradaya and Sanatani pracitces.
Most Hindus can agree that independent of context, this practice can be perceived as wrong. However, the hypocrisy of the SGPC in only calling out Hindu women is the real issue here. A clarification should explain where the rules were broken, and not denigrate Yogic practices which are revered in the Granth Sahib ji.
Injustice comes in many shapes and sizes. But two wrongs do not make a right. The SGPC must keep this principle in mind when dealing with such an incident. The SGPC must focus on better communication with both the Sikh masses and the overall Sanatani pantheon across the country and also the world at large. Two wrongs will never make a right. We should accept an apology, a clarification and a future course correction for this.
