Gobind Sadan
By Maharaj ji’s hukam, the havan in the center of Gobind Sadan has always had kaccha walls, with mud mortar between bricks and surface plaster of clay mud and chopped wheat straw. Why? Partly because they are traditionally known to be heat-resistant. This makes it possible for people to sit comfortably near the very hot fire, without heat building up in the enclosed space. Perhaps the kaccha walls also retain the extraordinary spiritual vibrations generated in the havan. The kaccha materials are surprisingly long-lasting, but after at least 30 years of only small patching, it was time to remove everything and replaster the walls.
This big project was undertaken under the supervision of Kuldip Singh. Women devotees who had the traditional skills of applying and smoothing the mud plaster by hand were called from Haryana, Punjab, and Shiv Sadan in UP as well as Gobind Sadan. They were not young; the oldest woman who applied mud to the walls was 80 years old Daya Kaur. Men also came to help with stripping the old mud from the walls, preparing the new mud plaster by mixing it with their feet, and carrying it up the scaffolding to the women. Special clay was brought from Shiv Sadan farm for this project.
Before the work started, the havan fire was reverently shifted to a temporary place in Baba Siri Chand’s garden. Around-the-clock devotions continued for many days in that place. When work was going on inside the havan, the women had mud up to their elbows but were so happy that often they were singing Maharaj’s old shabds. The end result of this special seva is very lovely and soul-pleasing.