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AMBALA: For decades, the clock was stuck at 10.08, a mute time-keeper for the lakhs who moved in and out of Sri Darbar Sahib in Amritsar. Dinged up, dented and faded, few ever looked up at it, and fewer still realised it was a keeper of history. Now, it ticks again. A two-year restoration in Birmingham – the same city where it was built it to order for Lord Curzon in 1920-22 – has brought the clock back to life.”It cost us around £80,000 (nearly Rs 96 lakh) to restore the clock and it’s ready for installation at Sri Darbar Sahib in Jan,” Inderjit Singh, representative of Birmingham-based Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (GNNSJ), told TOI.Lord Curzon, who was India’s viceroy from 1899 to 1905, and his wife visited Golden Temple on April 9, 1900. Contemporary records note he and his wife were struck by the “somewhat unworthy appearance” of a common wallclock hanging inside Sri Darbar Sahib and Curzon expressed his desire to replace it with a more “fitting timepiece, designed specifically to harmonise with the sanctity of the Sikh religious place”. It took over two years for Birmingham-based Elkington & Co Ltd to craft the specially commissioned clock and ship it to India. The gleaming brass timepiece was presented at Sri Darbar Sahib on Oct 31, 1902, on Diwali and Bandi Chhor Diwas, through the-then Lahore commissioner.It carried the inscription: “This clock was presented to the Golden Temple at Amritsar by Lord Curzon, Viceroy & Governor General of India, on the occasion of his first official visit, April 1900.” This inscription later proved crucial in establishing the historical significance of the artefact because time rubbed its sheen so badly that it faded into the wallwork. Over time, the clock suffered extensive damage, likely due to a fall from height and subsequent repairs, said sources. Its 10kg brass housing bore dents, cracks, scratches and missing decorative elements. Its original mechanical movement, hands and dial had been replaced decades ago with a mass-produced quartz mechanism and dull aluminium dial.In 2023, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) handed the restoration and conservation of frescos, wall paintings and golden plates of the shrine to GNNSJ, led by Bhai Mohinder Singh. During the conservation work in late 2023, GNNSJ discovered the historic clock concealed under a modern clock on the northeast side entrance. With SGPC’s approval, the clock was transported to the UK and Bhupinder Singh Minhas of Birmingham took on the task of getting it restored.”Bhai Mohinder Singh brought it back to India after restoration in Nov. It is fully functional now. We shall reinstall it at the same spot. The firm has supplied special brushes for its cleaning,” said Inderjit Singh. The aluminium face with hand-painted Punjabi numerals has been replaced with brass face and roman numerals, just the way it was when Lord Curzon handed it over.
