At The Chail Gurdwara Sahib

The morning after we landed in Chail, we visited the local Gurdwara. It meant climbing up a steep path after a few hundred metres of walking through the town's main market. My father, who is almost 79, had to stop a couple of times to take a break before we covered the nearly 200 metres to the bottom of the stairs leading up to the Gurdwara. Earlier, I misinterpreted the instructions given by Google Maps to take a road to the left of the one going towards the Gurdwara. It was when Google Maps told me that my destination was on the right, atop the hill that stood there, that I realised my mistake! We had to walk back to the intersection to take the correct path.

While going up the stairs, a few paces behind my father, I pointed out to him a dog that lay peacefully at the top. As soon as I had done that, the dog got up and started barking at us as if reminded of his duty to bark at strangers. As we climbed up the staircase, more dogs joined the welcoming party. The noise attracted the attention of the Granthi (priest), who came out to calm the dogs and to greet us. The dogs followed his instructions and took up positions in the courtyard. He told us there were five of them and also told us their names, which I do not recall now.

We removed our shoes and socks and washed our hands and feet before entering the beautiful building Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala constructed in 1907. I took several pictures before and after paying obeisance to the Guru Granth Sahib in the hall, which had a wooden ceiling with a cutout in the centre to provide light through a few glass fixtures below the sloping tin roof above. The entire building was based on a European architecture style, rather than the oriental one Gurdwaras in the plains usually are. An old chandelier, probably from 1907, hung from the ceiling.

The Granthi told us he was an employee of the Himachal Pradesh government and not any Gurdwara management committee. He told us that the place of worship was taken care of by a government department looking after heritage structures. However, he said he often had to resort to posting on social media to appeal to Sikhs around the world to fund repair and renovation as the funds provided by the government were insufficient. He seemed to be doing that well since the building was in prime condition inside and outside. He said enough accommodation could be arranged for up to 100 people around the Gurdwara, although they would have to bring their rations.

Since there were no other visitors, we could have a long conversation with him, and he also told us about his family, including his daughter, the first female Granthi in India. He said she was presently employed at the Gurdwara Nanak Durbar in Dubai. His son lived in Birmingham, he said. He told us he had travelled to 12 countries, including neighbouring Pakistan and several in Europe.

The dogs sleeping in the courtyard were unconcerned as we walked out, put on our shoes and socks, and left.