Building not a heritage structure, say experts

Terming the row over the historical shrine at Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district as baseless, archaeology experts on Friday claimed that the building of the gurdwara is not a heritage structure and it was erected in modern times and not during the times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh as claimed by some Sikh organisations.

The experts, including Rajinder Singh Batth, former archaeological officer, Punjab; Prof Balwinder Singh, former head of Guru Ramdas School of Planning, Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU); and incumbent adviser, Smart City Project, Amritsar; Sikh writer Charanjit Singh Gumtala and Balwant Singh Mangat, a former archaeological engineer of the Punjab archaeology department held a press conference here to express their views on the controversy. Batth said they have personally examined the gurdwara and found that except an old ‘khuh’ (well), nothing can be called as heritage and the material used to construct the building suggests that the building was constructed in 1940s. Referring to the picture given in ‘Mahan Kosh’, authored by scholar Bhai Kahan Singh Nabha, Prof Balwinder Singh said the building was built in modern times.

The row over the gurdwara started after the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) assigned the ‘kar sewa’ (voluntarily service) to revamp the gurdwara to an organisation, led by Baba Sewa Singh.

Finding a portion of the building in a poor condition, the organisation decided a complete revamp, but a few Sikh organisations, including Damdami Taksal, opposed it claiming that it will amount to destruction of heritage. They claimed that the building was constructed during the regime of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. HTC

SAY MATERIAL USED IN BUILDING SUGGESTS IT WAS BUILT IN 1940S AND NOT DURING MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH’S REGIME