Sikh worship held in Lahore college gurdwara for the first time after partition

After nearly 80 years Sikh prayers were held at a historic gurdwara in Aitchison College at Lahore in Pakistan college officials said FridaySince 1947 the Aitchison Gurdwara had been closed due to lack of Sikh students but maintained by the collegeOn Wednesday a historic and emotional Sikh prayer was held at the gurdwara on the campus of Aitchison College on Mall Road in Lahore said Dr Tarunjit Singh Butalia an honorary envoy of Aitchison CollegeThe special Sikh worship at the gurdwara was held as a part of the 140th anniversary of the college which was attended by some 100 people Dr Butalia told PTIIt was a nostalgic moment for me to worship at the same place that my father grandfather and great grandfather prayed every evening before partition while they were students at Aitchison College he said and added he helped the college organise this event for the 140th anniversary celebrationsAitchison College Principal Turab Hussain said The prayer service at the gurdwara after 1947 at Aitchison College was a spiritual moment to kick off the 140th anniversary celebrations We look forward to many more such occasions We hope this promotes more communal harmony mutual understanding and respectThe foundation stone of Aitchison College was laid on November 3 1886 as an institution to provide education to the royals and chief families of undivided PunjabThe Aitchison Gurdwara was designed by Ram Singh the famous Sikh architect of the then Mayo School of Arts now National College of Arts LahoreThe foundation stone was laid in 1910 by Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala he himself had studied at the college from 1904 to 1908 The Patiala royal family championed the fundraising for the buildingThe gurdwara building was completed in the next year or two and dedicated as a functional space where Sikh boys attended daily evening prayer servicesThere are currently about 15 Sikh alumni of Aitchison College living in India who fondly remember going to the Gurdwara with its black and white marble floor with its inside architecture resembling a castle Butalia saidIn addition to the gurdwara the college also has a prepartition era mosque and a Hindu temple The mosque was built in 1900 by the Nawab of Bahawalpur while Maharaja of Darbhanga laid the foundation of the Hindu temple in 1910This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever