INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

equested Mardana to tune his rebeck from which the name of the divine Creator
(Kartar) started to resound throughout the sky. The present Gurubagh Gurdwara,
located in the area of Kamaccha on Luxa road two kilometers from the city centre in a
westerly direction, has preserved a small garden in the courtyard as a memento of the
“seat” that Guru Nanak occupied in Varanasi and the land which learned scholars of
Kashi bestowed him after he had sung sacred hymns and defeated them in religious
debates. Amidst whitewashed brick buildings and concrete walls of the crowded
townscape, a small plot decorated with green grass, roses and French marigolds
brings forth visual imagery of the greenery of jujube, guava, bamboo, tamarind and
nim trees that once provided the beauty of the Guru’s garden.
The local history about the Gurus’ visit and the genesis of a Sikh community in
Varanasi is today conveyed orally and in writing. A pilgrim visiting any of the two
gurdwaras is likely to be provided a ritualized rendering of the history. After the
customary washing of hands and feet when visiting a gurdwara, the pilgrim should
first enter the sacred space and bow down before the throne on which Guru Granth
Sahib is installed. Subsequently the granthi or some other attendant lets the pilgrim be
seated on a sheet outside the doorway to the inner sanctum. In a recitative manner
the granthi will start to narrate the historical events from his memory and point out
the relics and spaces in the gurdwara for the pilgrim to observe and pay respect to.
The formalized oration provides historical legitimacy to the places and instructions
on the ritual behavior in the gurdwara. Like most Sikh events the granthi will conclude
his narration by uttering the Khalsa salutation (Vahiguru ji ka Khalsa, Vahiguru ji
ki fateh) and offer the pilgrim prashad, consecrated food from the Guru’s place.
The history retold is a modern reconstruction of anecdotes primarily anchored
in local legends and the seventeenth century Janam-sakhi literature, hagiographies on
The local history painted in frames at Gurubagh Gurdwara
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008