Gurdwara Dera Sahib, Lahore

Gurdwara Dera Sahib (Dehra Sahib), also called Gurdwara Dehra Sahib Patshahi Panjvin, stands close to the Lahore Fort, near the Badshahi Mosque and the samadhi of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It marks the place where Guru Arjan Dev Ji, the fifth Guru, was tortured on the orders of the Mughal emperor Jahangir and gave his life on 30 May 1606, in the River Ravi, which then ran close to the Fort. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism calls it the principal Sikh shrine of Lahore.

Its history in order: Guru Hargobind had a memorial platform built there in 1619, and the Encyclopaedia says the present building, a typical model of Sikh architecture, was raised by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The SGPC's own page adds that the present congregation hall was founded in 1909, a local committee formed in 1925, and the SGPC took over management in 1927.

Key moments

• 30 May 1606: Guru Arjan Dev Ji gives his life.
• 1619: Guru Hargobind has a memorial platform built.
• 21 April 1930 to 9 September 1934: the SGPC rebuilds the shrine, paves the area on both sides and gold-plates the domes. A plan to enlarge the hall was dropped because of Partition.
• 9 September 1947: Sikhs have to leave the gurdwara.
• November 2025: Indian Sikh pilgrims on a 10-day visit for Guru Nanak's 556th birth anniversary spend the last leg at Dera Sahib and are taken to the Wagah border on 13 November under security from Pakistani police and Rangers, as the Evacuee Trust Property Board, which looks after minority holy places, said.

Where it stands: Sri Guru Granth Sahib is still recited at the gurdwara and two Singhs do the daily service, according to the SGPC. The Guru's martyrdom anniversary is marked each year in the month of Jeth, in May or June, and the SGPC calls it the Shahidi Jor Mela. Wikipedia says that only local or visiting Sikhs may enter freely and that others need permission from the Evacuee Trust Property Board.