Bangla Sahib

Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in Delhi stands on the site of the bungalow of Raja Jai Singh, where Guru Har Krishan Ji stayed in 1664 and where he died of smallpox at seven.

The sarovar there is called Sarovar Sahib and its water is taken by pilgrims for healing, because of the account that the Guru attended the sick during the epidemic.

It is one of the most visited gurdwaras in the world. Its langar serves tens of thousands of meals daily and its kitchen operates continuously.

During the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 the Delhi gurdwaras ran oxygen langars, providing free oxygen to anyone who came, when the city's hospital system had collapsed. That is the same institution doing the same thing it was doing in 1664.

The Delhi gurdwaras are administered by their own committee under a 1971 statute, separate from the SGPC.

The site is associated with Guru Har Krishan Ji, who stayed at the bungalow in 1664 and served the sick during an outbreak in the city before dying of it himself at seven years old.

The langar runs continuously and the kitchen is among the largest in India by daily output. Its scale is a large part of why the gurdwara is visited by non-Sikh Delhi as much as by Sikhs.

The same committee runs Sis Ganj, Rakab Ganj, Majnu ka Tila and the schools and hospitals attached to them.

What we don't know

  • Nothing central.

Where to check this

  1. Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee records. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee ↗

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This is one of 130 accounts in The Ten, the chapter of this site covering the Gurus, from 1469 to 1708.