Gurdwara Bagh Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji Ka

Gurdwara Bagh Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji Ka

Gurdwara Bagh Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji Ka (or Gurdwara Bagh Sahib or Gurdwara Guru Gobind Singh Ji Daskhati) – Ahraura, a small town in Mirzapur district, is 18 kilometres from Ahraura Road railway station on the Allahabad-Mughal Serai section of Northern Railway and 40 kilometres from Varanasi along the Varanasi-Robertsganj road. Guru Tegh Bahadur stayed here during his journey from Mirzapur to Benaras (Varanasi) in 1666. He planted a tree inaugurating the raising of a garden here at the request of the Sikh Sangat which already existed here. Even now over a dozen Sikh families, natives of the place, live in Ahraura. The Gurdwara, an old type building with many small rooms, is along the main street. It is named Gurdwara bagh (lit. garden) Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji Ka. The sanctum is a comparatively spacious rectangular hall across the courtyard. Within the hall is a closet called Nivas Sthan (residence). The garden a small one, is at the back of the sanctum. The Gurdwara is registered as Shri Guru Singh Sabha and is managed by a committee of the local sangat.

A hand written copy of Guru Granth Sahib prepared in 1742 is in the private possession of Sardar Kanta Singh, the granthi of Gurdwara bagh Sahib, as it is called for short. Another hand-written pothi (breviary) claimed to be autographed by Guru Gobind Singh is with Sardar Hira Singh, who has built a separate Gurdwara Guru Gobind Singh Ji Daskhati (lit. autographed) Sahib. The pothi is displayed only on special anniversary occasions i.e. birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh and martyrdom anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur.