INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

May and June about six to seven families and a dozen students gather every Sunday
in the gurdwara at Rajputana hostel to recite Sukhmani Sahib, perform the Sikh prayer
and distribute sanctified food. A few days before the festival Vaisakhi ‒ commemorating
the creation of Khalsa ‒ the association normally arranges a special lunchprogram
for graduating students who are given a Sikh prayer book (gutka) and blessings
for their future career. On special events, such as Sikh festivals and the foundation
day of BHU (February), the association sometimes organizes religious programs
with unbroken readings of Guru Granth Sahib and devotional music.
DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE WORKS
In 1961 Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW)
was set up in Varanasi and soon became a
major manufacturer of diesel electric locomotives
in Asia. 178 The factory was built in a
southern area of Varanasi called Gugulpura
and established its own township with housing
areas, hospitals and schools for workers.
Sikhs who migrated to Bihar and Varanasi in
the time of the partition were employed at
the factory and soon built their own community
within its campus. By means of financial
support from the Sikh community in
Varanasi, the Rajput Bradari (brotherhood), as
well as Punjabi contractors and industries in
the city, the campus community purchased a
property to construct a gurdwara. The foundation
stone was laid in November 1970 and
the gurdwara was named Singh Sabha Gurdwara
DLW Varanasi.
Singh Sabha Gurdwara DLW Varanasi.
From 1978 Sardar Lav Singh and his wife Shanti Devi Kaur have worked as
granthis and managed the local gurdwara. Like many other Sikh families in Varanasi,
the couple came from Pakistan in 1946 for business in the clothing trade. They were
planning to go back to their home five months later, but when the riots broke out in
1947 they decided to stay in India. Lav and Shanti never returned to see what happened
with their property and home. In exchange of a monthly salary of 250 rupees,
collected from local shops, they took care of the duties and ceremonies held in the
gurdwara, including the daily installation of Guru Granth Sahib in the morning and
the reading of Rahiras Sahib at sunset.
For many years Singh Sabha Gurdwara DLW Varanasi functioned as a significant
meeting place for a small community of Sikhs who lived and worked at the DLW
178
See DLW’s web site at: www.diesellocoworks.com.
76
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008