Historic gurdwara
Gurdwara Bangla Sahib
The gurdwara on the site of Raja Jai Singh's Delhi mansion, where Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji stayed in 1664 and served the sick during an epidemic.
History
- 1664
Guru Ji in Delhi
Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji stayed in the bungalow, or bangla, of Mirza Raja Jai Singh in February and March 1664, after the Emperor Aurangzeb summoned him to Delhi. The city was in the grip of cholera and smallpox.
Guru Ji served the sick and the poor, and caught smallpox while doing so. Guru Ji passed away on 30 March 1664.[EoS]
- 1664 to 1783
A sacred site lost and rebuilt
Raja Jai Singh dedicated the house to the memory of Guru Ji. The Encyclopaedia says the Mughals demolished this building and built a mosque on the site some time between 1753 and 1775.
Sardar Jassa Singh Ramgarhia razed that mosque when he attacked Delhi on 1 October 1778, and Sardar Baghel Singh raised the gurdwara in 1783.[EoS]
- After 1947
The present building
The Sikhs of Delhi built the present two-storeyed building after the Partition of 1947.[EoS]
What the sources disagree on
- Where Guru Ji passed away
One account says Guru Ji moved to a place on the Yamuna to protect Raja Jai Singh's household from infection, and passed away there. Some chroniclers say Guru Ji passed away in the Raja's house, and was only taken to the Yamuna for cremation.[EoS]
Images
Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, New Delhi, a modern photograph from 2014. No historic image was found in the Commons set.
Slyronit, 2014.CC BY-SA 4.0. Source
