Rai Bilal Akram Bhatti felicitated at Sri Dasmesh Darbar in Papatoetoe
Mahesh Bindra
Auckland, March 26, 2023
A descendent of a former Royal Family which donated a very large plot of land to Guru Nanak, the Founder of Sikhism was in Auckland last week on a private visit.
Rai Bilal Akram Bhatti, the 19th descendant of Rai Bular Ahmed Bhatti was honoured by the resident Sikh community at a special meeting held on Wednesday, March 23, 2023 at Gurdwara Dasmesh Darbar located at Kolmar Road in the South Auckland suburb of Papatoetoe.
New Zealand Central Sikh Association Chairman and community leader Prithi Pal Singh Basra led the felicitation meeting and thanked the Bhatti family for their generosity.
He said that the Sikh community is growing in New Zealand and that just 500 people 37 years ago, the Sikh population is more than 75,000, spread all over the country.
“Our community is involved in many welfare, relief and other social services, as per the teachings of our Founder Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the Gurus who came after him and the Guru Granth Sahib. We express our gratitude to the Bhatti family who supported our Spiritual Leader Guru Nanak Dev as he began establishing this great religion,” he said.
Among those present at the event were several senior members of the Sikh community including Ajit Singh Randhawa, Beant Singh Jadore and Dr Pardeep Kumar Khullar.
About the Bhatti Family
Rai Bular (who died in 1515) was a Muslim Rajput landlord of the Bhatti clan in the latter half of the 15th Century. He inherited the position of Zamindar of Talwandi from his father Rai Bhoi.
At that time, Guru Nanak’s father Mehta Kalu was his employee.
Rai Bular was inspired by Guru Nanak, who showed signs of great wisdom and the ability to communicate with people, as a Special Gift of God. He donated 18,500 acres of agricultural land- about half of his property- to Guru Nanak.
The land is now under the control of the Evacuee Trust Property Board of Pakistan.
The descendants of Rai Bular Bhatti have continued to play an active role in the area through the 21st Century.
Mahesh Bindra is a former Member of Parliament and New Zealand First Spokesperson for Ethnic Affairs. He lives in Auckland.
Our Editor adds:
A portrait of Rai Bular was installed in the Central Sikh Museum of the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar, Punjab, under the supervision of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on October 15, 2022, to commemorate his importance in Sikhism. His descendants from Pakistan were invited to attend the event but were unable to do so due to visa clearance issues.
A PTI Report of October 31, 2022 said that SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami said that he visited the residence of Rai Bular Bhatti, who had donated land for Gurdwara Nankana Sahib at Lahore in Pakistan.
Descendant honoured
During his visit to Pakistan, he met the descendants of Bhatti at their residence.
“Mr Dhami said that they also honoured Bhatti’s descendant Rai Saleem Bhatti at Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Pakistan and presented him a Robe of Honour (Siropa), a replica of the Golden Temple, wool shawls and a set of Sikh religious books.
He returned to India after attending a congregation to mark the centenary of Saka Panja Sahib in Pakistan.
“Talking to PTI from Lahore over the phone, Mr Bhatti said that he was thankful to the SGPC for installing the portrait of Rai Bular Bhatti at the Central Sikh Museum situated in the complex of Golden Temple on October 15, 2022. The descendants of Rai Bular Bhatti could not visit the Golden Temple as they were not granted visas to visit Amritsar.
“Rai Bular Bhatti Sahib was a staunch Baba Guru Nanak Peer follower. The Bhatti family had donated 18,500 acres of land to Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of the founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak,” Mr Dhami told PTI.
