DES RAJ. BHAI, a Khatri Sikh of Amritsar, was entrusted with the supervision of the reconstruction of the Harimandar during the sixties and seventies of the eighteenth century. Nothing is known about his early life or family except that he originally came from Sursingh village, 30 km southwest of Amritsar, from where he migrated to the town and flourished in business, with a reputation for honesty and truthfulness. When the Sikhs sacked Sirhind in January 1764 and allocated several hundred thousands rupees from the plunder for the restoration of Sri Harimandar Sahib at Amritsar, demolished by Ahmad Shah Durrani two years earlier, they assigned Bhai Des Raj to undertake the reconstruction.
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DIALPURA BHAI KA, village in Bathinda district of the Punjab, 38 km west of Barnala, named after its founder, Bhai Dial Singh, a grandson of Bhai Rupa (1614-1709), around the middle of the eighteenth century, claims a historical shrine, Gurdwara Zafarnamah Sahib Patshahi X. According to local tradition, Guru Gobind Singh, during his stay at Dina in December 1705, retired during the day to a grove around a pool of water which stood at the site marked by the present gurdwara.
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DORAHA (30° 48`N, 76° 2`E), an old village along the Grand Trunk Road 20 km east of Ludhiana, claims an historical shrine, Gurdwara Damdama Sahib Patshahi Chhevin, sacred to Guru Hargobind, Nanak VI. According to local tradition, Guru Hargobind encamped here for a night travelling back from the Gwalior Fort. The present complex, a rectangular flat roofed hall with ancillary buildings inside a walled compound, was constructed in 1932. The Gurdwara is managed by the local sangat. M.G.S.
