Sikh worship service returns at Aitchison Gurdwara in Lahore

Chandigarh: A historic and emotional Sikh worship service (Shabad Kirtan) was held at the Gurdwara sahib on the campus of Aitchison College on Mall Road in Lahore on Friday, February 13. Pakistan Minister for Minorities Affairs Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora and several others including local Sikhs have attended the solemn occasion.

Disclosing this, Tarunjeet Singh Butalia, who has organised this programme with the help of college authorities, informed that local ragi jatha comprising Harwinder Singh, Akshaydeep Singh and Dalip Singh recited the hymns of Gurbani.

He further informed that the Gurdwara sahib had been closed due to lack of Sikh students since 1947 but was maintained by the College administration. The special Shabad Kirtan at the Gurdwara sahib was held as a part of the 140th anniversary of the college.

Mentionably, the foundation stone of this college was laid on November 3, 1886 as an institution to provide higher education to the royals and chief families of undivided Punjab.

As per the records the Aitchison Gurdwara sahib was designed by Sardar Ram Singh, the famous Sikh architect of then Mayo School of Arts (now National College of Arts).

Butalia added that the foundation stone of Gurdwara sahib was laid in 1910 by Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala and he himself had studied at the college from 1904 to 1908.

The Gurdwara building was completed in the next two years and dedicated as a functional space where Sikh boys attended daily evening prayer services.

There are currently about 15 Sikh alumni of Aitchison College living in India. In interviews with them, they fondly remember going to the Gurdwara with its black and white marble floor with its inside architecture resembling a castle. In addition to the Gurdwara, the College also boasts of a pre-partition Masjid and Hindu Mandir.