Gurdwara Sri Prayag Sahib (Nima Sarai), Old Maldaਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਪ੍ਰਯਾਗ ਸਾਹਿਬ (ਨੀਮਾ ਸਰਾਇ), ਪੁਰਾਣਾ ਮਾਲਦਾGurdwara Sri Prayag Sahib (Nima Sarai), Old Malda

Old Malda is unusually valuable because its physical heritage tells a complete preservation story: Guru association, an older gurdwara, urban decline, surviving site markers, recorded property identity and later reconstruction. Pothi can therefore distinguish the seventeenth-century sacred association from the twentieth-century rebuilt shrine without losing either layer.

The Encyclopedia of Sikhism states that Malda is sacred to both Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji, each having visited during eastern travels. A Sikh shrine existed in the Sarbari area of Old Malda. As New Malda developed across the river, Old Malda declined in population and importance, and the old gurdwara was deserted.

The reference records that the remaining historical markers were an old well and two masonry platforms, one associated with the First Guru and one with the Ninth Guru. Sikhs from the neighbouring Purnea / Katihar region continued to assemble at the site annually for Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s birth anniversary, preserving the place-memory even when the old shrine had deteriorated.

Restoration interest revived in the twentieth century. Sikh reference summaries describe the gurdwara property as continuing to appear in revenue records, a boundary wall being raised during the 1960s, and reconstruction efforts beginning in the mid-1970s. The restored shrine came to be called Sri Prayag Sahib, Sarbari, Old Malda. An older marble slab preserved at Gurdwara Singh Sabha in New Malda records the name “Gurdwara Nima Sarai, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur, Old Malda,” providing a useful alias and provenance link.

Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji visited Malda on the eastern journey toward Dhaka. Sikh historical memory localizes the Guru’s association at the Old Malda shrine site later known as Nima Sarai and, after restoration, Sri Prayag Sahib.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji; Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji; Sikh sangats from the wider Bihar-West Bengal corridor; twentieth-century Sikh supporters involved in preserving and reconstructing the old site.

• Old well surviving from the earlier shrine landscape in the standard reference account.

• Two masonry platforms, traditionally dedicated separately to Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji.

• Restored / reconstructed gurdwara known as Sri Prayag Sahib at Sarbari, Old Malda.

• Historic Nima Sarai name preserved through an old marble inscription reported at Gurdwara Singh Sabha, New Malda.

The Guru-period importance belongs to the Old Malda sacred site, not to the age of the present reconstructed gurdwara. The well, platforms, recorded property identity and Nima Sarai naming preserve continuity; the current building is a later restoration layer and should be dated separately.

• Early Sikh period: Guru Nanak Dev Ji eastern travel tradition becomes associated with the Old Malda site. • c. 1666-1667: Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji visits Malda during the journey toward Dhaka. • Later period: A Sikh shrine exists in the Sarbari area of Old Malda. • Urban decline period: Development of New Malda contributes to depopulation of the old area and abandonment of the gurdwara; the well and two platforms remain. • 1960s: Sikh preservation interest revives; a boundary wall is reported around the historic property. • Mid-1970s onward: Reconstruction efforts develop the historical site; the shrine becomes known as Sri Prayag Sahib. • 2026 Pothi status: Historical identity strong; exact entrance pin, management, worship schedule and visitor access require current verification.

• HG-361 - Old Nanak Shahi Sangat, Sahibganj: preceding verified shared multi-Guru eastern site.

• HG-360 - Gurdwara Sangat Tola, Dhaka: principal later Guru Tegh Bahadur Dhaka residence / congregation record.

• HG-206 - Gurdwara Nanak Shahi, Dhaka: distinct Dhaka physical record; do not merge with Sangat Tola or use as an Old Malda proxy.

• Future Guru Nanak Dev Ji historical-place collection: reuse HG-362 for the same Old Malda physical site.

Sikh reference sources identify a reconstructed gurdwara at the historical Sarbari site under the name Sri Prayag Sahib. Pothi should still verify the exact public entrance, current caretaking body, opening arrangements, condition of the well / platforms and whether the older Nima Sarai inscription remains accessible in New Malda before publishing visitor-detail cards.

• Nima Sarai, Nima Serai and Sri Prayag Sahib refer to the same Old Malda physical heritage site in the reviewed sources. Treat them as aliases rather than separate HG records.

• The strongest historical core is the shared Guru association, old site, well, two platforms and restoration history. Exact dialogue, duration of stay and detailed day-by-day route claims should not be invented.

• The reconstructed shrine is later than the Guru-period events. Pothi must never describe the present building as original seventeenth-century architecture.