GURDWARA SAHIB BAU, SARAWAK
(No longer exists)
Bau, which is about 20 miles (about 33 kilometres) from Kuching, was a famous gold mining town, which existed in the 1850’s. Due to the Chinese uprising in Bau in 1857, the first white Rajah, Sir James Brooke, fled to Singapore where he recruited personnel for the Sarawak Constabulary.’ Sikhs were recruited to serve in the police force and they gradually brought law and order to this area.
A Sikh Gurdwara Sahib was built in the early 1920s for the Sikh police and watchmen at the gold mines in Bau. The Gurdwara Sahib Bau was under the jurisdiction and control of the Management Committee of the Gurdwara Sahib Kuching. All expenses incurred by the Gurdwara Sahib Bau were paid for from the funds of the Gurdwara Sahib Kuching. All donations received in the Gurdwara Sahib Bau were given to the Gurdwara Sahib Kuching.
After the Second World War (1942 – 1945), the number of Sikhs in Bau started to dwindle. Most of the Sikhs migrated to other areas or left for Punjab. By the late 1950s, the Gurdwara Sahib Bau was closed as there were no longer any Sikhs left in Bau. The Holy Book, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, at Bau and all other assets were transferred to the Gurdwara Sahib Kuching.
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