A gurdwara steeped in history

Finding serenity in a Sikh shrine’s picture-perfect setting

On this mildly cool afternoon, the utterly peaceful world here at Gurdwara Damdama Sahib seems in perfect harmony with the creation. The air is filled with sounds of birds, the tree leaves are trembling in the slow breeze and the sky is blue.

As one of Delhi’s historical gurdwaras, the modern building is not nearly as old as the history it commemorates, but the white marble edifice lends the temple a dignified sanctity. The gurdwara is situated in such close proximity to the ramparts of Mughal Emperor Humayun’s tomb that it feels like a contemporary extension of that 16thcentury monument. Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station is only 5 minutes away by walk. Right now, a local train is sitting on the tracks just across the lane from the gurdwara; its coaches are empty.

Being comfortably seated on a bench in the gurdwara’s well-maintained garden—sahibzada Baba Jujhar Singh Park—provides a cozy intimacy, as though you’re relaxing on the lawn of a friend.

Free langar is served in the hall behind the main temple, but the lunch hour is well over. A young man sitting on the floor is polishing off dal chawal from his steel thali. While some distance away, a couple is spotted dishwashing as a voluntary kar seva (service) to the temple.

An elderly gentleman sits alongside the gurdwara’s main prayer hall providing a fistful of halwa prasad to devotees walking past. Just watching him serve so quietly evokes a curious sense of calm to weary spirits.

Inside, the worship hall is aglow in golden light, and with the holy book of Guru Granth Sahib lit up brightly by white lamps. Elsewhere, a metal slab elucidating the gurdwara’s history points out that it’s a memorial centered around the meeting between the 10th Sikh guru and a Mughal emperor in 1707. “And even today refreshes the memory of the holy personality of Guru Gobind Singhji.”