INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

Since 1961 the VGPC has had administrative control of a small historical gurdwara
called Bhuili Sahib in the village Bhuili thirty kilometers from the city of Varanasi.
According to the local tradition, Guru Tegh Bahadur stayed in the village during his
journey eastward in 1666. Apart from the main hall where Guru Granth Sahib is installed,
the gurdwara accommodates a chamber, called tapasthan, in which Guru Tegh
Bahadur did meditation (tapashya) and another room on the opposite side where the
Guru kept the Sikh scripture. In the beginning of the twenty-first century the Sikh
community in Varanasi constructed a hall for public distribution of food outside the
main shrine.
Earlier Bhuili Sahib was managed by a village committee run by five to six Sikh
families. When more than half of them moved into the city the responsibility was
handed over to the VGPC. To local Sikhs Bhuili Sahib is intimately associated with a
Nirmala sant from Punjab who lived in the gurdwara for many years and delivered
expositions on Guru Granth Sahib. The VGPC also employed a Nihang Sikh from
Kashmir to take care of the daily duties in the gurdwara. Apparently the Nihang
educated villagers in Sikh teaching and martial arts, and even converted a few to the
Sikh religion. For the last fifteen years Sumer Singh ‒ a local Sikh farmer ‒ and Lal
Singh ‒ a Nihang Sikh originally from a neighboring village ‒ have shared the responsibility
for the daily ceremonies in the gurdwara and organized programs on full
moon days. Every year on a Sunday between the festivals Holi and Vaisakhi the Sikh
congregation at Varanasi is invited for a program with recitations from the Guru
Granth Sahib and public distribution of food. The gurdwara is also open and provides
religious services for Hindu villagers. After a death Hindu families will go to
the gurdwara for a last Sikh prayer (Ardas) in the name of the departed soul.
JAGGAT GANJ AND COTTON MILL
As the local history narrates, when Guru Tegh Bahadur visited Varanasi in 1666 some
of his followers at Jagat Ganj, a neighborhood in the northern part of the city, invited
the Guru to give a teaching. Afterwards, they handed over their own house to him. 174
Since 1984 and up to the time of my fieldwork this property, located close by Jagat
Ganj Crossing, was barred with padlocks and looked more like a refuse dump, covered
with plastic bags and leaf plates. Previously the precincts lodged a Hanuman
temple. In the beginning of 1980s VGPC purchased the property and started to construct
a Sikh gurdwara and shelter (dharmsala) for pilgrims. The building project was,
however, interrupted in 1984 when local Hindus laid claims on the property. The
dispute was still to be settled at time of my inquiries. Locals who were in sympathy
with the Hindus said they had justly “opposed” the building plan, since the Sikhs
disrespectfully removed a Hanuman statue. Supporters of the Sikhs, on the other
hand, alleged that Hindu mobs violently occupied the area during the anti-Sikh riots
following the assassination of Indira Gandhi and reinstated the monkey God on
grounds that belonged to the Guru. VGPC brought the matter to court and local au-
174
Varanasi Dian Kuch Itihasik Yadan, p. 13.
74
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008