As part of our ongoing international work and to link in with the Festival of Thetford & Punjab, we’ve been strengthening cultural connections with Bassian Kothi, a 200-year-old historical monument situated in Raikot, Ludhiana in India. The building, now a thriving museum, honours the memory of Maharajah Duleep Singh, the last ruler of the Sikh empire, who spent time there in captivity on 31 December 1849, the night before his exile from the Punjab by the British Army.

In February 2024, we presented Bassian Kothi with a limited edition print Casualties of War, a portrait of Maharajah Duleep Singh by internationally renowned contemporary British artists, The Singh Twins, who are patrons of Essex Cultural Diversity Project.

Image credit: Photograph taken at Bassian Kothi: Essex Cultural Diversity Project CEO, Indi Sandhu UK hands over the rare portrait of Maharajah Duleep Singh to the administration officer in the Museum at Raikot, Ludhiana along with Nature Artist Harpreet Sandhu.