Manmohan's wife visits Gurdwara Nanak Shahi
Gursharan Kaur, wife of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, visits Gurdwara Nanak Shahi, a Sikh temple, on Dhaka University campus yesterday. Photo: PID
Gursharan Kaur, wife of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, visited Gurdwara Nanak Shahi, a Sikh temple, on Dhaka University campus yesterday and participated in a special prayer session. Reaching the temple around 5:12pm, Kaur spent around 30 minutes in prayers. “She (Kaur) offered her prayer and completed other rituals after joining the special prayer session,” said Narayan Robi Das Pappu, general secretary of Gurdwara Management Committee. The special prayer song was sung and verses from the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikh religion, were recited during the prayer session while Prasad were distributed amongst worshippers afterward. During Kaur's visit to the temple, the management committee presented her a “Sarpa” (a special scarf). She then inaugurated a VIP guesthouse for overseas visitors inside the temple. DU Proctor Prof KM Saiful Islam Khan, seven members of the committee, four donors of the temple and two priests were also present during Kaur's visit. The committee General Secretary Pappu said Kaur visited the temple on an invitation by the Dhaka University administrators. Kaur left the temple around 6:15pm. She arrived in Dhaka with Manmohan, who is now on a two-day visit in Bangladesh. Gurdwara Nanak Shahi is the biggest and oldest temple in Dhaka where the Sikh community pray and pay their respect to Guru Nanak Dev, founder of the religion Sikhism. Sikhism made its debut in Dhaka when Guru Nanak Dev came on a visit in 1504. During his brief stay, he left his ideals in the minds of many. The temple was established to commemorate his visit. The temple is believed to have been built at the initiative of a Sikh priest, Bhai Nathan, sent by the sixth Sikh Guru Har Gobind Ji (1606-1645) during the reign of Mughal emperor Jahangir. Bhai Nathan laid the foundation stone and the construction was finished in 1830.
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