Gurdwara Bhai Joga Singh (Peshawar)
Gurdwara Bhai Joga Singh (Peshawar, Pakistan), which was founded by Hari Singh Nalwa (Maharaja Ranjit Singh]];s fabled General) when Peshawar was part of the Sikh Kingdom, is named in honour of the Gursikh Bhai Joga Singh, who left his wedding when called by the Hukham (order) of the guru. This Gurdwara is situated in Jogan Shah area of Namakmandi of Peshawar City. In the morning the Sangat of Peshawar is held and in the evening the Parakash of the Guru Granth Sahib takes place. Sardar Shona Singh is currently the pramukh of the Gurdwara.
From an interview by Sikh Taranjit Singh, “Hari Singh Nalwa, the fabled general of Ranjit Singh’s army, was said to weigh 250 kgs. He was the strongest man in the universe. Once, he slapped a man so hard, his head got dislocated from his shoulders. His chest was equal to that of seven people. No horse could carry his weight, finally one day a horse was found from Baluchistan that could carry his weight.”
Hari Singh Nalwa built around 2500 gurudwaras in Punjab, under the patronage of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Today around 800 of them still exist. Across the country (Pakistan), in fact, there are many of these gurdwaras that have been converted into schools, jails, homes and suchlike, because the Sikh religion all but dissapeared when the partition of India took place. All the Sikhs either shifted to India or went into the mountains, to survive the grab for the land and property as the their Muslim neighbors attempted to rid Pakistan of its Sikhs and Hindus.
Only recently have the surviving Sikhs, and their descendants, started coming down from the mountains.” Today Peshawar has more Sikhs than any other city in Pakistan. Pushto is the mother tongue of most of them.
According to Sardar Shona Singh: “This gurudwara was shut down in 1947,” Then, in 1980, the Pakistan government gave us permission to start it again. It took us thirty three days just to clean this place up.”
The beautiful three storied Gurdwara also includes a Punjabi school for Sikh children which imparts both a secular and religious education.
The Prakash of the Guru Granth Sahib takes place daily and often the local sangat is joined by foreign sangats, as well.
