INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

the city testify that Sabharwal was a significant benefactor for the establishment of
religious institutions. In the case of Singh Sabha Gurdwara at Diesel Locomotive Work
(See below), for instance, he and his family alone contributed almost the same
amount as the whole Sikh community altogether. With reputed membership in several
social, educational and trading associations on national and local level, Sabharwal
bridged co-operation with the outward society and represented the Sikh community
in public discourses until his death in 2002.
Unanimously my interlocutors asserted that bhakti bhavna, or sincere devotion,
had been in constant increase in the Sikh community for the last fifty years. This development
has been noticeable in the escalation of religious practices, such as the
arrangements of recitations from Guru Granth Sahib, a growing interest in religious
propaganda, and people’s adoption of the normative Khalsa identity. “People have
more trust in religion nowadays”, a middle-aged male interlocutor said. In the local
setting the mounting devotion is considered to have been preconditioned by the
works of Laina Singh and Ajit Sabharwal. They exchanged Hindu practices in the
Guru’s house with pure Sikh worship and built up spaces and institutions for religious
and social work in compliance with the Sikh teaching.
SIKH INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS
The day to day running of the two main gurdwaras in Varanasi – Gurubagh and
Nichibagh ‒ is at the present controlled by the managing committee, Varanasi Gurdwara
Parbandhak Committee (VGPC). The committee consists of 55 members who are
selected by the chairman and the general secretary. Every fifth year the congregation
holds a democratic election of the chairman, and the person elected for the post will,
after due deliberations with other board members, appoint a committee. Except for a
few intermissions Ajit Singh Sabharwal occupied the chairmanship from the end of
1960s up to his death in 2002, and was succeeded
by the former president Jaswant Singh
Dang, a follower of the Namdhari tradition. In
total the selected executive committee includes
nineteen commissions with different areas of
responsibility (See Figure 5). The store secretary,
for instance, is responsible for the organization
of the communal kitchen (langar) and
keeps daily records of donations, expenses of
food and other items. The stage secretary arranges
the religious programs, upon which he
has a censorial function and is entitled to rectify
performers in the gurdwara if they are
misinterpreting Sikh doctrines or in any way
try to discredit Sikhism. Jointly the committee
works as the employer of all paid workers in
BOARD MEMBERS OF THE VGPC
Chairman
President
Five Assistant Presidents
General Secretary
Joint General Secretary
Auditor
Treasurer
Office Secretary at Gurubagh
Office Secretary at Nichibagh
State Secretary at Nichibagh.
Stage Secretary
Two Building Secretaries
Secretary of Religious Propaganda
Store Secretary
Figure 5.
71
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008