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| Succour for the needy: Gurdwara Bangla Sahib By M P K Kutty NEW DELHI: When huge flames reduced to ashes all the possessions of thousands of slum dwellers in the Yamuna Pushta area, who fed them in their hour of devastation and tragedy? Food for them came from the Bangla Saheb Gurdwara. This gurdwara, in the centre of the national Capital, is one of the outposts in the midst of market and political forces, giving a call to the flowing crowds about their humanity and divinity. Once a magnificent bungalow owned by Raja Jai Singh of Amber (Jaipur) who commanded great respect and honour in the court of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, this royal dwelling now enjoys the status of a Sikh shrine. The eighth Guru Harkrishan stayed here for a few months as guest of Raja Jai Singh. During his stay in Delhi, the Guru spent most of his time serving the sick and the destitute. Cholera and small pox had been raging in an epidemic form at that time and his ministry among the sick won him many admirers. The offerings received at the shrine were spent on the needy. He died on October 6, 1661. Raja Jai Singh had constructed a small tank in the premises of the bungalow. In the basement of the gurdwara is a hospital. A water tank measuring 225 x 235 feet and 18 feet wide, and so cooling to the eyes on a hot summer day, has been built by voluntary labour (kar seva) by Baba Harbans Singh several years ago. Daily, when the area around is free from deafening traffic and noise pollution, the gurdwara is a beehive of activity, with people flocking into it in their Sunday best since early morning. Besides the thirsty souls, the hungry stomachs too arrive there: The mendicants, the vagabonds, the street urchins arrive there to share the langar food generously provided by the kitchen. Rich or poor, the ignorant and the learned share the same food and they sit in a line on the floor while eating - a visible sign of the spiritual concept of the equality of all human beings. The gurdwara also runs a free eye hospital and clinic. The langar (community kitchen) feeds thousands of people everyday. The cooking, cleaning of vessels are all done on voluntary labour. And the provisions needed are provided through donations. The mystery is that no one is turned away from the langar for want of food. Politicians who bring rural folk for their rallies find it convenient to take them to the gurdwara kitchen. The kitchen provides emergency supplies even to policemen. As in any other gurdwara, the granthi respectfully carries the Granth Sahib on his head and installs it at the appointed place with due reverence in the early hours of the morning. The spiritual activity consists of recitation of verses from the Book and singing of bhajansfrom the Jap Sahib. It is worth mentioning here that no sermons are preached inside a gurdwara and no deviation is permitted from whatever is written in the Granth. And the assumption is that the concepts and instructions in the book are so simple that no interpretations are necessary. Here is a Sikh shrine, a dharmashala, which is a shelter to the shelterless, providing food for the hungry and a signpost of the Sikh Gurus who preached the oneness of the human race and equality of all men. The golden dome of the shrine proclaims both the prosperity of the Sikhs and the priority they accord to matters of faith. When they celebrate the tercentenary year of the Khalsa, the monument beckons the faithful to worship and to serve. Source: http://www.timesofindia.com/120499/12mdel8.htm |
 | Succour for the needy: Gu... (Balvinder Singh S Bal - 14.May.99) |
