| Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib | |
|---|---|
 Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib Delhi  | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Sikhism |
| Location | |
| Location | Chandni Chowk,Old Delhi,India. |
| State | Delhi |
 Interactive map of Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib | |
| Coordinates | 28°39′21″N77°13′57″E / 28.6558°N 77.2325°E /28.6558; 77.2325 |
| Architecture | |
| Style | Sikh architecture,Islamic Architecture andMughal Architecture |
| Completed | built in 1783, current structure mostly built post 1930 |
Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib is one of the nine historicalGurdwaras inDelhi. It was first constructed in 1783 as a small shrine byBaghel Singh to commemorate the martyrdom site of the ninthSikh Guru,Tegh Bahadur and was probably expanded afterIndian Rebellion of 1857 or afterPartition of India. Before its construction theMughalKotwali (Police Station and Jail) was situated here.[1][2][3] After theIndian Rebellion of 1857 the Mughal Kotwali was demolished by theBritish and the land was given to theSikhs as themaharaja of Patiala and other Sikh soldiers helped theBritish to defeat the Mughal soldiers by providing large numbers ofammunition and soldiers.[4] Its current building was made by Rai Bahadur Narain Singh a contractor who build most of roads in Lutyens New Delhi construction under British Rule. Situated inChandni Chowk inOld Delhi, it marks the site where the ninth Sikh Guru was beheaded on the orders of theMughal emperorAurangzeb on 11 November 1675. The Sikh regiment of the Indian army salute the Sis Ganj Gurudwara before saluting the president of India since 1979, the only instance of saluting twice in the Republic Day parade by a regiment of Indian army.[5][6]
The ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded here on 24 November 1675 on the orders of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. However, before the Guru's body could be quartered and exposed to public view, it was taken under the cover of darkness by Lakhi Shah Vanjara who then burnt his own house to cremate Guru's body; today, at this site standsGurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib.[7]
The severed head ("Sis" in Hindi or Punjabi) of Guru Tegh Bahadur was brought toAnandpur Sahib byBhai Jaita, another disciple of the Guru.[6][8] Another gurudwara by the same name, Gurudwara Sisganj Sahib atAnandpur Sahib in Punjab, marks this site, where, in November 1675, the head of the martyred Guru Teg Bahadur, brought by Bhai Jaita (renamed Bhai Jivan Singh according toSikh rites), in defiance of the Mughal authorities, was cremated.
The trunk of the tree beneath which the head of the Guru was severed and the well used by him for taking bath during his prison term have been preserved in the shrine. Also, adjoining the gurudwara, stands theKotwali (police station), where Guru was imprisoned and his disciples were tortured. Located close to it is theSunehri Masjid (Chandni Chowk).
On 11 March 1783, Sikh military leaderBaghel Singh (1730–1802) of theKarora Misl marched into Delhi along with his army.[9] He occupied theDiwan-i-Am, the Mughal emperorShah Alam II made a settlement with them agreeing to allow Baghel Singh to raise gurudwaras on Sikh historical sites in the city and receive six annas in a rupee (37.5%) of all the octroi duties in the capital.[9] Sis Ganj was one of the shrines built by him (with eight Sikh shrines connected to the Sikh gurus being constructed in the city by him[9]), within the time span of eight months, from April to November 1783.
Baghel Singh did not actually know the exact location that the guru's beheading had taken place, only knowing that the place was somewhere near a mosque in Chandni Chowk.[9] A local, elderly Muslim woman belonging to the water-carrier caste got in-contact with him and revealed that her father had actually been the one who had cleaned the site of the guru's execution after the event and he was an eye-witness to the execution itself.[9] She explained that the guru at the time of his beheading had been seated upon a woodenchauki (seat) that faced in the eastern direction of the compound wall of the mosque.[9] A part of this very wall was then removed and a shrine was then constructed in the compound.[9]
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However, due to volatile political climate in the coming century, the site alternated between being a mosque and a gurudwara. It became a site of dispute between two communities, and litigation followed. Eventually, after prolonged ligation the Privy Council duringBritish Raj ruled in the favour of the Sikh litigants and the present structure was added in 1930; gold gild of the domes was added in the coming years. The Mughal-eraKotwali was handed over to theDelhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee around 1971.[6][8][10]
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28°39′21″N77°13′57″E / 28.6558°N 77.2325°E /28.6558; 77.2325
