The Ramgharia Bunga is Sri Harmandir Sahib complex on the side of the Langar Hall building. Many times I have visited Sri Harmandir Sahib, but I have never thought to go and see what these two towers are that stand tall in the complex. This time I was lucky enough to visit the Ramgarhia Bunga.
Bunga means living quarters. After the the last attack on Sri Darbar Sahib by the Mughals in which they blew up Sri Harmandir Sahib with gunpowder, the Sikh Misls (federations) built special quarters nearby in order to protect it from any future attacks. The Ramgarhia Bunga was built by Sardar Jassa Singh Ramgarhia in 1755. In the period following its construction it served a dual
purpose of housing pilgrims visiting Sri Darbar Sahib and fortifying the
area to protect the holy complex from outside invasion.
When the Khalsa conquered Delhi, Sardar Jassa Singh Ramgarhia brought a piece of stone, known as Sill, (length 6ft. 3 inches, breadth
4ft. 6 inches, thickness 9 inches) from Delhi. The Sill was the base on which the
Mughul throne was placed on, and Mughal rulers would sit to hold their court. It is believed that the Sill
itself contains some rare stones. Sardar Jassa Singh collected many historical material from the Red
Fort, with which the Red Fort was built, and brought to Amritsar for the
construction of the Ramgharia Bunga. The historic stone was
later placed in front part of the Ramgarhia Bunga, facing Sri Darbar Sahib,
where it still exists. Sardar Jassa Singh Ramgarhia’s vow was
fulfilled, when for many years it was used as throne for Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. However, this practice was discontinued.
Sardar Jassa Singh Ramgarhia had a throne for him made that was made underground so that he lower than the throne of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. This exists in the lower basement of the Bunga.
During the Sikh Empire, several Sikh Generals and Royal Families got
constructed nearly 99 Bungas in the walled city of Amritsar out of which
the one constructed by Ramgarhia Missal provided accommodation to visiting pilgrims. Out of the 22 watch towers constructed around Sri Harmandir Sahib in order to keep a watch on the enemy invaders, only the 2 towers adjoining Ramgarhia Bunga have survived.
During the army invasion on Sri Harmandir Sahib in 1984, these two towers were also badly damaged by canon fires. They were later restored to the original design.
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