Historical Gurdwaras in Foreign Lands

PAKISTAN

Wazirabad

Gurdwara Kotha Chhevin Patshahi

Wazirabad is a tahsil town in Gujranwala district. Guru Hargobind must have passed through it during his outward journey to Kashmir in the company of Emperor Jahangir, but during his return journey he stayed here for some time in a house put at his disposal by a Sikh resident, Bhai Khem Chand. This house which came to be called Guru Kak Kotha or Guru Kotha (lit, Guru's house) was developed into Gurdwara Guru Kotha Chhevin Patshai and endowed with over 100 acres of land during the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Its architecture is peculiar. Its three-storeys on a high plinth have similar dimension but each has a different design. The rectangular ground floor has only one entrance and no windows. The first floor has three windows on the façade; the width of the central one is three times that of the one on either side of it. The room has also a window each on the side walls. It has a dented cornice. The second floor consists of three domed rooms, the central one is slightly bigger than the others but its dome is much bigger and sits on a tower-like base. Before 1947, Basant Panchmi (Janaury-February) and Divali (October-November) used to be celebrated here.