Gurdwara Bangla Sahibਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਬੰਗਲਾ ਸਾਹਿਬ

In the heart of New Delhi, a short walk from Connaught Place, stands Gurdwara Bangla Sahib — one of Sikhism's most beloved shrines. Guru Har Krishan Ji, the eighth Sikh Guru, stayed here in 1664 and served Delhi's sick during an epidemic, before he died here still a child. The shrine's healing sarovar and golden dome draw millions of devotees every year.

The bungalow of Raja Jai Singh

In the seventeenth century the site was a bungalow — pronounced bangla in the local tongue — belonging to Raja Jai Singh of Amber, a Rajput ruler and general in the Mughal court. The bungalow gave the future gurdwara its name.

Guru Har Krishan Ji had been summoned to Delhi by Emperor Aurangzeb after his succession as Guru was challenged by Ram Rai. Raja Jai Singh and his son Raja Ram Singh, both respected at the Mughal court, invited the Guru to stay at the bungalow and stood surety for him until the dispute was settled.

The child Guru's healing seva

Delhi was in the grip of a smallpox and cholera epidemic in 1664. From the bungalow, the Guru tended the suffering of the city — providing charity to the sick and instructing his diwan, Dargah Mal, to spend all the daily offerings made to the Guru on the downtrodden.

The Guru himself contracted the illness and died in the bungalow on 30 March 1664, still a child.

The healing sarovar

After the Guru's death, Raja Jai Singh had a small tank built over the well from which the Guru had drawn water. That tank grew into the sarovar — the holy pool at the heart of the complex: some 225 feet by 235 feet, ringed by an 18-foot-wide parkarma and a 12-foot veranda along three sides.

Sikhs revere the sarovar's water for its healing properties and carry it home as amrit. On the birth anniversary of Guru Har Krishan Ji, the gurdwara fills for a special congregation.

A shrine rises, and is rebuilt

The bungalow was dedicated as a gurdwara in the Guru's memory. In 1783, the Sikh general Sardar Baghel Singh — who that year raised and rebuilt the nine historic shrines of Delhi — built a small shrine here; the present buildings, with the white-marble façade and the gilded dome, are mostly the work of the twentieth century after 1947.

The gurdwara today

Bangla Sahib is instantly recognisable by its golden dome and tall Nishan Sahib, on Baba Kharak Singh Marg, with the Sacred Heart Cathedral as its near neighbour. The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) runs the shrine, and the complex houses the Baba Baghel Singh Sikh Heritage Multimedia Museum, a Khalsa girls' school, and a charitable hospital whose diagnostic centre offers some of Delhi's cheapest scans.

Continuous Gurbani kirtan fills the darbar hall through the day, and Guru-ka-langar feeds tens of thousands daily — about 30,000 on ordinary days, many more at festivals.

Why is it called Bangla Sahib?

Because the shrine grew out of Raja Jai Singh's bangla — a bungalow. “Bangla Sahib” simply means the revered bungalow, and the name memorialises the spot where Guru Har Krishan Ji stayed.

How do I reach Gurdwara Bangla Sahib?

The gurdwara sits on Baba Kharak Singh Marg near Connaught Place and is open round the clock. The nearest metro is Shivaji Stadium on the Airport Express Line, a few hundred metres away, with Patel Chowk on the Yellow Line and Rajiv Chowk also nearby. Cover your head (scarves are provided), leave shoes at the jora ghar, and respect photography rules inside the prayer hall. October to March brings Delhi's best weather.