File:19th century Janam Sakhi, Guru Nanak joins school.jpg

English: Asian Art Museum, San Francisco has a collection of manuscript folios of the popular Sikh literature called Janam Sakhi (lit. Life Stories). These date between 1800–1900, acquired in Punjab (India or Pakistan). A part of these manuscripts are in the Kapany collection.

A Janam-sakhi is a miracle-filled, mythical hagiography. The earliest versions were written about 50 to 80 years after Guru Nanak's death. With time, these legends expanded and became more elaborate and depict the founder of Sikhism to possess miraculous powers. He travels extensively in these legends and the miracles are set in different locations in South Asia and the Middle East. He also meets ancient mythical figures of other Indian religions as well as Islam.

The images illustrate the storyline. They also contain cultural, dress, ritual body art and social information about Sikh society, artists, writers and trends in 18th and 19th century Punjab region (India and Pakistan). Guru Nanak is always shown with a halo and is typically a larger presence than other characters. If another character in the painting is also considered sacred, they also have a halo. The character with a lute is Bhai Mardana, reflecting the hymn singing tradition.

This painting shows Guru Nanak going to school.

For a discussion of these Janamsakhi illustrations: Seeing-in Guru Nanak at the Asian Arts Museum

This is a photograph of a two-dimensional watercolors painting on paper. It was published before 1900 CE. Therefore it qualifies for 2D-Art licensing guidelines of wikimedia commons. Any rights I have as a photographer, I donate it to wikimedia commons under CC4.0.