If a resounding rebuff were needed to that old saw that the only culture Punjabis know is agriculture, this book is extravagant proof. Produced in association with the Smithsonian’s Asian cultural history programme, it is a lavishly photographed and designed volume of Sikh art—miniatures, weaponry, coins, textiles, photographs and contemporary paintings among other memorabilia—that is the single-handed collection of one individual. Parvinderjit Singh Khanuja, an India-born oncologist who set up a flourishing practice in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1993, pursued his “expensive passion” over 15 years as a form of seva (public service), a founding tenet of his faith. His impressive hoard now has a permanent home in the Phoenix Art Museum and, from 2017, is shown in themed exhibitions such as Virtue and Valour, Warriors of World War I and The Golden Temple.
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