Gurdwara Purbi Tola – Etawah

Gurdwara Purbi Tola – Etawah, a district town 125 kilometres southwest of Agra, has two Udasi Ashrams, one of which is named Gurdwara Purbi Tola. Guru Tegh Bahadur, when he passed through Etawah on his way to the east in 1665-66, might have stayed here. Located inside the town near the courts and the Kotwali (police station), it is popularly called Bari Sangat (lit. the larger congregation). The form of worship of the Udasi priests who control the shrine is nearer to Hindu than a Sikh liturgy, but Guru Granth Sahib printed in Devnagri script is seated in a pavilion in one of the numerous courtyards. It is opened in the morning and closed in the same way and with the similar respect as is done in Sikh Gurdwaras. A copy of Guru Granth Sahib in Gurmukhi script is kept wrapped up in a small room nearby, because few priests of the present generation can read it. The Gurdwara is open to outsiders only during the day.