The manuscript held by the Sodhi family at Kartarpur in Jalandhar district is claimed to be the original volume of the Adi Granth compiled by Guru Arjan Dev Ji in 1604 and written out by Bhai Gurdas Ji.
If that claim holds it is the single most important document in Sikh history and one of the most important manuscripts in India.
It came into the family's hands through Dhirmal, grandson of Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji, who refused to give it up, and it has stayed with his descendants for nearly four centuries.
Access is controlled by the family and is granted rarely. Bhai Jodh Singh examined it and published a report in 1968. Other scholars have been refused. There is no full facsimile in general circulation and no agreed collation against the printed text.
Its authenticity has been questioned by some scholars and defended by others, and the dispute cannot be settled without access.
A document that would answer a large number of open questions about the compilation of the Sikh scripture sits in a house in Jalandhar district and almost nobody has read it.
The physical questions are answerable by inspection. The paper, the ink, the binding, the hand and the marginalia would settle a great deal without anybody having to read a word of the text.
It is claimed as the volume dictated by Guru Arjan Dev Ji to Bhai Gurdas Ji at Amritsar, and the claim is disputed by scholars who have examined the evidence at second hand.
Bhai Jodh Singh's examination in the 1960s is the only published study by somebody granted access. The manuscript has never been photographed page by page and made available.