Gurudwara Shri Badi Sangat Sahib Varanasi

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Since the visit of Sri Guru Nanak Sahib Ji, certainly since the time of Bhai Gurdas, a Sikh sangat had been in existence in Varanasi. Gurdwara Sri Badi Sangat Sahib Varanasi - The Gurdwara in Nichi Bagh area is the oldest and most important sangat at Benaras judging from old hukamnamas and other relics possessed by it. At the time of Guru Tegh Bahdur's visit in 1666, the Sangat was headed by Bhai Jawehri Lal, the masand. The Guru stayed in a house belonging to Bhai Kalyan Mal (who was over 100 years of age) for several months. Guru Ji visited after hearing the prayers of Bhai Kalyan who could not travel and asked for darshan of Guru Ji. It is the site of this house which is occupied by the Gurdwara Bari Sangat now. Bhai Gurbakhsh, the masand at Jaunpur, came with his sangat to offer obeisance. Bhai Gurbakhsh a practised musician, pleased the Guru with his melodious kirtan. Bhai Gurbakhsh was given a mrdang (a drum) as a mark of Guru Ji's appreciation and blessing. The present three-storey building, replaced the one constructed by Maharaja Narinder Singh of Patiala in 1854, was constructed during the 1950s. The sanctum is at one end of a spacious high-ceilinged, rectangular hall on the ground floor. All around the interior of the hall is a wide gallery and a number of cupboards for use by Sikhs. Within the congregation hall there are two more Gurdwaras - a small room called Tap Asthan represents the location where Guru Tegh Bahadur sat in solitary meditation, and a narrow well called Baoli Ganga Pargat (lit. well making the Ganges manifest).