The Republic Day Tableau of Punjab for 2021 reflects the theme of the supreme sacrifice of ninth Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur, who laid down his life to uphold the eternal values of humanity, religious co-existence and freedom of faith.
The tableau delineates divine and serene aura marking the 400th Prakash Purb of the ninth Sikh Guru. The tractor portion starts with the holy Palki Sahib (palanquin). The trailer portion depicts the ‘Prabhat Pheri’ in the beginning with devotees reciting kirtan. The end of the trailer portion shows Gurdwara Sri Rakab Ganj Sahib which marks the site where Lakhi Shah Vanjara and his son Bhai Naghaiya burnt their own house to cremate the headless body of Guru Sahib.
Guru Tegh Bahadur was born in Amritsar on 1 April 1621. He was a great philosopher, a spiritual leader and a poet. The Guru took up the cause of Kashmiri Pandits who were facing religious persecution under Aurangzeb and was martyred on 11 November 1675 at Chandni Chowk, Delhi, on the orders of the Mughal emperor for refusing to convert to Islam.
Notably, the tableau of Punjab has been selected for the Republic Day parade for the fifth consecutive year. The state’s tableau got the third position in 2019 being the shining achievement, while its tableau on Jallianwala Bagh massacre earned accolades all over. Earlier, in 1967 and 1982 also, the Punjab tableau won the third slot, an official spokesperson of the Punjab government said.