Services
Beautifying and restoring historic Gurdwaras in Pakistan — from Nankana Sahib and Lahore to Kartarpur, Sialkot, and Hasan Abdal — so pilgrimage sites remain open for the sangat.
Funds allocated to this programme upgrade and beautify Gurdwara buildings — historic sites that deserve care so they can welcome pilgrims and remain living centres of faith.
Through Kar Sewa Committee UK, Pres. Balbinder Singh Nanuwan helped start large-scale Kar Sewa in Pakistan after 1999. Landmark projects include the Gurdwara at Nau Lakha Bazar / Landa Bazar in Lahore (2005), Ball Lilla Gurdwara in Nankana Sahib (2018), residential blocks and langar hall at Tambu Sahib, and ongoing construction work. Cold-water coolers and thousands of concrete benches have also been installed across Gurdwaras in Pakistan for the comfort of the sangat.
Dozens of Gurdwaras remain open today for visitors from around the world — a blessing for the Sikh panth and a continuation of seva that began when few others were able to work on these sites after 1947.
In and around Nankana Sahib
The historic shrines below are the sites where Kar Sewa Committee UK and Khalsa International Welfare Society have worked since 1999 — rebuilding, beautifying, and adding facilities for the sangat. Click any photograph to view it larger.
The settlement was established by the Hindu Rai Bhoi, which gave it the name Rai-Bhoi-Di-Talwandi. After the birth of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Rai Bular Bhatti renamed it Nankana Sahib. The shrine was first built around 1600 CE and was refurbished by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1819–1820 CE. It marks the home of Mehta Kalyan Das (Mehta Kalu) and Mata Tripta, the parents of Guru Nanak, and stands today as the central Gurdwara of Nankana Sahib.
On 20 February 1921 the Udasi custodian Mahant Narayan Das and his mercenaries killed between 140 and 260 Sikhs — including children as young as seven — inside the Janam Asthan Gurdwara, after members of the reformist Akali movement accused him of corruption. Bhai Lachhman Singh Dharowali, wounded by gunfire, was tied to a Jand tree and burnt alive. As news spread, Sikhs marched on Nankana Sahib from across Punjab and Bhai Kartar Singh Jhabber arrived the next day with 2,200 Singhs. The Commissioner of Lahore handed the keys of Nankana Sahib to the Shiromani Committee and arrested the Mahant. In political significance the Saka is second only to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919, and it became the heart of the Gurdwara Reform Movement.
Also called Gurdwara Maulvi Patti Likhi — a patti being the wooden board on which children learned to write — this shrine marks the site where the young Guru Nanak learned the languages then used in Punjab, mainly Persian and Arabic, each with its own alphabet. It lies midway between Gurdwara Janam Asthan and Gurdwara Bal Lilah, along the road leading from Janam Asthan to the railway station in Nankana Sahib.
During the early 1800s Maharaja Ranjit Singh had the building renovated and the sarovar enlarged and properly lined; of the land he donated, about 3,000 acres were allotted to Gurdwara Bal Lilah. Before the Saka of 1921 the shrine was managed by the Nirmala Singhs, and after the tragedy at Janam Asthan its custodian mahants voluntarily handed it to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in exchange for a maintenance allowance for their families. It remained in panthic hands until 1947, after which the Pakistan Waqf Board has served the Gurdwara. Kar Sewa Committee UK carried out major restoration here in 2018.
Gurdwara Tambu Sahib — tambu meaning tent — stands at the place in Nankana Sahib remembered for the canopy under which Guru Nanak Dev Ji rested, and it is where Akali jathas gathered at the time of the 1921 Saka. It is also the centre of our own seva: through Kar Sewa Committee UK, residential blocks and a langar hall have been built here for pilgrims, and KIWS has run a free eye camp at Tambu Sahib every month since 2012.
This Gurdwara in Nankana Sahib commemorates the visits of the fifth Guru, Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji, and the sixth Guru, Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji, to the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Like the other shrines of the town it passed to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee after the Saka of 1921 and, since partition, has been maintained with the help of the sangat and the Pakistan Waqf Board.
Gurdwara Kiara Sahib stands a kilometre and a half from Gurdwara Janam Asthan. According to the Janam Sakhi, the young Nanak was sent to graze cattle and, resting under a shady tree, was lost in thought while the cattle strayed into a farmer's field. The angry farmer complained to Rai Bular, who came to see the damage — yet the trampled field was found to be untouched, and when the Guru looked kindly upon it the crop turned green again. Hindus and Muslims alike revered the Guru after seeing this. The Gurdwara stands in that historical field, enclosed by a boundary wall and a sarovar. Since the partition of 1947 it has come under the Pakistan Waqf Board.
This Gurdwara was first built by Diwan Kaura Mal and renovated by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Larger and more imposing than Kiara Sahib, it has broad copings with domelets around the central dome, domed kiosks at the corners of the roof, and porches along the sides of the hall. The site is linked to Guru Nanak Dev Ji's childhood: resting under a shady tree while grazing cattle, he fell into a trance, and as the sun moved onto his face a cobra spread its hood to shade him. Rai Bular, watching from a distance, feared the child had been bitten, but found him safe — and from that day became his disciple, telling Mehta Kalu to regard his son not merely as a child but as a revered prophet.
Gurdwara Sacha Sauda lies 37 miles from Lahore on the Lahore–Lyallpur railway line. Mehta Kalu, hoping to instil a sense of business in his son, sent the young Nanak with twenty rupees to buy goods he could sell for a profit. On the way the Guru met sadhus who were hungry and without food, and used the money to provide them a langar. He returned home with no purchases, and though his father was annoyed, the Guru explained that feeding the starving sadhus was the best profit the money could earn — the true bargain, sacha sauda.
This Gurdwara stands between Gurdwara Sri Tambu Sahib and Gurdwara Sri Hargobind Sahib. Tambu Sahib was once under the control of Nihang Sikhs, and when Mahant Bhai Sharam Singh took over the seva of Sri Guru Granth Sahib at the behest of the Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Nihang Ujagar Singh opposed the decision and established a separate prakash asthan nearby. That place, known as Nihang Singh Chaoni (camp), became Gurdwara Nihang Singhan and still stands beside Gurdwara Sri Tambu Sahib.
In Lahore
Kar Sewa in Lahore began with the Gurdwara at Nau Lakha Bazar / Landa Bazar in 2005 and continues at the city's historic shrines.
Guru Arjan Dev Ji was allowed by his guards to bathe in the river Ravi to cool his many burns; at that time the Ravi flowed along the wall of the fort. The Guru's light rejoined Akal Purakh on 30 May 1606. Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji visited the site of his father's torture in 1619 and had a memorial rostrum built to commemorate the martyrdom. Maharaja Ranjit Singh later built a small but beautiful Gurdwara here. As it had no congregational hall, one was attached in 1909, after which daily diwans were held regularly, and a sarai for visitors, a marble gate, and a Nishan Sahib were added.
This historical site stands opposite the Shaheed Ganj of Gurdwara Bhai Taru Singh in Naulakha Bazaar. Sikh historians record that vast numbers of Sikh men and women were martyred here at the orders of Mir Mannu, Governor of Lahore, who vowed to leave no Sikh alive. A saying about his oppression survives among the Sikhs: “Mir Mannu saadi datri, asin Mannu dey soye; jyon jyon sanoo kap da, asin dunay teenay hoye.”
The Gurdwara gained importance when the Sardars of the Bhangi Misl captured Lahore, and Maharaja Ranjit Singh would visit two or three times a week to pay homage, granting it a jagir. A dispute erupted in 1910 when attempts were made to take possession of the Shaheed Ganj; in 1936 it became so grave that police opened fire. The lower court decided in favour of the claimants, but the higher court dismissed the case and Governor Emerson maintained its status as a Gurdwara. The final case was dismissed on 6 May 1996, and it remains a Gurdwara today.
This is the historic place where Guru Ram Das Ji was born on 24 September 1534 to Sodhi Hardas Ji and Mata Daya Kaur, and where the Satguru spent the first seven years of his life. It stands inside Delhi Darwaza, near Purani Kotwali Chowk in Chuna Mandi. Because the Guru's ancestral house was small, Maharani Nakain asked Maharaja Ranjit Singh — at the time of the birth of Kanwar Kharak Singh — for permission to rebuild the site. The Maharaja purchased the surrounding buildings and had a Gurdwara built, somewhat in the likeness of Harimandir Sahib, Amritsar.
Gurdwara Sri Shaheed Ganj Bhai Taru Singh Ji is in Naulakha Bazar, Lahore. Bhai Taru Singh belonged to Polah, a village of District Kasur, and supported his widowed mother and his sister by honest earnings while helping other needy Sikhs. Zakariya Khan, the subedar of Lahore, once asked his men: “From where do the Sikhs obtain their nourishment? I have debarred them from all occupations, they realise no taxes, they do not farm, nor are they allowed to do business or join public employment. I have stopped all offerings to their Gurdwaras. Why do they not die of sheer starvation?” Bhai Taru Singh's martyrdom is remembered here.
Across Pakistan
From Kartarpur to Hasan Abdal, these shrines welcome sangat from every corner of the world.
Duni Chand, then Governor of the area, met Guru Nanak Dev Ji at Pakhoke and donated a hundred acres of land on the right bank of the river Ravi. The Guru accepted, settled there, and a small building was constructed — making Kartarpur the first Sikh centre. Historical sources record that the foundation was formally laid on 13 Magh, 1572 Bikrami (1515 CE). The Guru wore the clothes of a Punjabi farmer and cultivated the land around the new settlement, and soon his father, mother, wife, and sons joined him. Here he lived the life of a householder for eighteen years, and here he began the tradition of Guru ka Langar.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji learned that someone had broken a promise made to a holy man, Hazrat Hamza Ghaus, who in his anger had vowed to meditate for forty days so that the whole city would be doomed. The Guru sat under a ber tree close to where Hamza was meditating and sang Gurbani aloud. Disturbed, Hamza came and asked why he wished to save lying villagers. “You are not supposed to punish a whole city for the misconduct of a single person,” the Guru replied, explaining that many souls in the city understood the purpose of life. He then gave Bhai Mardana two paise to buy “falsehood” and “truth” from the market. A shopkeeper named Maula took the coins and wrote two chits: on one, “Life is bitter”; on the other, “Death is truth.” On reading them, Hamza Ghaus pardoned the residents of Sialkot.
Gurdwara Panja Sahib is at Hasan Abdal, 48 km from Rawalpindi. It is among the holiest places of Sikhism because it marks the spot where Guru Nanak Dev Ji instilled an important lesson for his followers, and the sacred rock bearing the hand print of the Guru is still visible — panja meaning an outstretched palm. Many thousands of Sikhs visit from around the globe, and twice a year, during special celebrations, an enormous number of pilgrims attend, with special visas allocated by the Pakistan government to meet the demand.
One hundred and thirty-four hymns of Sheikh Farid are incorporated in Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Many Sikh scholars ascribe them to Farid Shakarganj (1173–1265 CE) of Pakpattan, a disciple of the Sufi Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki. The tenth in succession to his post was Sheikh Brahm (Ibrahim), also known as “Farid Sani” — Farid the Second — and it was this Farid whom Guru Nanak Dev Ji met on two occasions. Max Arthur Macauliffe held that the hymns are compositions of the later Farid, while others ascribe them to Farid Shakarganj; still other scholars believe they were composed by different Sufis of the Pakpattan centre, all using the poetic name Farid, as the custom of the day was for a leader's most suitable devotee to take his place.
