LAHORE - Remembering Hazrat Sayi Miya Mir and Guru Ramdas Ji

This textile traces the journey of the rivers Raavi, Chenab, and Jhelum — reimagining their maps through thread and art. It reflects how these rivers shaped the lands around them, and the communities, memories, and stories that continue to flow alongside them.

Lahore, the historic heart of eastern Punjab, once rested on the banks of the Raavi. Even today, the river continues to live within its folk songs, poetry, and collective memory.

Lahore itself holds deep significance for many of us for countless reasons. But while creating this piece, one remembrance stayed closest to our hearts — the beautiful bond between Guru Ramdas Ji and Hazrat Sayi Mian Mir Ji.

Guru Ramdas Ji’s parkash took place in Choona Mandi, Lahore. Around the same time, Hazrat Sayi Mian Mir Ji also lived in Lahore, with the Darbar of Sayi Mian Mir Ji located only a short distance away. It was Hazrat Sayi Mian Mir Ji who laid the foundation stone of Sachkhand Sri Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar — a gesture that continues to stand as a timeless symbol of oneness, love, and spiritual kinship. The thought of Guru Ji and Sayi Ji sharing the same city fills our hearts with warmth and reminds us of the interconnectedness of all.

Another beautiful detail lies in how Gurdwara Janam Asthan Lahore and Darbar Sayi Mian Mir Sahib today are connected by Allama Iqbal Road — named after the famous philosopher and poet Allama Iqbal, who considered Rumi his Ruhani Ustaad. In many ways, it feels fitting — because across time, Guru Ji, Sayi Ji, Iqbal Sahib, and Maulana Rumi all spoke of the same truth in different tongues: oneness, love, and the dissolving of the distance between people, faiths, and the Divine.

Lahore belongs to many of us in different ways — through memory, ancestry, poetry, longing, or love.