(Gurdwara Birth Place of Sri Guru Nanak
Dev ji)
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Gurdwara
Sri Nankana Sahib Ji
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Nankana Sahib is a holy place where the founder of Sikh religion, the
dispeller of darkness, the most enlightened global Guru, Guru Nanak
Dev ji was born early in the morning to Mata Tripta Ji and Mehta Kalu
Ji on 15th April, 1469 (Baisakh sudi 3, Samwat 1526).
Bhai Gurdas in his Var (Var 1/27) has equated this event with the sun
that lights up the earth after a dark night :
Jeeu Kar suraj nikaleya, taare
chhipe andher paloa. (Var 1/27)
According to Puratan Janam Sakhi, the trees starting dripping juice,
many a pauper became rich, the diseased were blessed with health. The
earth heaved a sigh of relief.
According to Janam Sakhis,
when Daulta Dai, the maid nurse was offered money, she refused it on
the plea that she had already been rewarded by the very glimpse of the
holy baby. Guru Nanak gave his first message that he belong to God and
would exert the people to worship His Name. Bhai Nand lal ji has well
said that Guru Nanak was asked by the Almighty to turn the face of humanity
towards Him.
The township of Nankana Sahib
was earlier known as Raipur and later on as Rai-Bhoi-di-Talwandi but
after the birth of Guru Nanak, it began to be known as Nankian Sahib/Nankana
Sahib. It is situated at a distance 48 miles on the west from Lahore.
Guru Nanak dev
ji passed his whole childhood and young age in Nankana Sahib. At the
age of nine, when Pandit Hardyal asked the boy Nanak to put on Janeo,
he refused to have the thread that discriminated amongst mankind. The
Janeo which was made of the silk for a brahmin, of cotton for a khatri,
of wool for a Vaish and which was strictly abondoned for Shudara. And
again which is three folds for brahmin, two folds for Khatri and only
one fold for Vaish. He asked the Pandit if he had the thread made of
compassion the cotton, contentment the yarn, continence the knot and
purity the twist, he was ready to wear it. The Pandit was dumb-founded
:
Daeya
kapah santokh soot jatu gandhi sat watt.
Eihu
janeo jeea ka hai ta pande ghatt. (p. 471)
When he joined a school at Nankana
Sahib, the Guru is said to have written fundamentals of education on
the wooden takhti provided to him. He enlightened the people when he
wrote simply the first alphabet of Persian script 'alaf' and conveyed
the message of unity of Godhood.
Guru Nanak Dev got married on
21st , may 1487 to Bibi Sulakhani, Daghter of Mulchand Khatri of Batala.
It was at Nankana Sahib that he met Bhai Mardana, who was his life long
companion for 47 years, listening and singing Guru's gospel. According
to the Sikh history, Guru Nanak at the age of 22 years, in 1491 A.D.
went into silence for days together. He did not eat a single morsel
and utter a single word.
His father Kalu ji sent for a local
physician / Vaid. The vaid found nothing wrong with the young Nanak
and found himself in a quandary as to what to tell his father because
Nanak was absolutely healthy. Guru Nanak said ," I have no physical
ailment. Thou, the simple physician, knows not the pangs arising from
the heart"
Bhola vaid na jaaneie karak Kaleje
maah. (P. 1279)
Guru Nanak Dev Ji stayed at his birthplace uptil 35 years of age and
hereafter went to Sultanpur.
For a long time, this place remained
in normal form. In A.D. 1613 (Samwat 1670), Guru Hargobind visited the
birth place of Guru Nanak and entrusted the responsibility of looking
after this place to Alamst, an ardent disciple of Baba Sri Chand. Since
then Udasis, (the followers of Guru Nanak's Son) looked after this place
for a long time.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh got
a magnificent building built there and at the behest of Baba Sahib Singh,
the Maharaja gave 700 acres land as religious endowment to his holy
shrine but the Udasis continued to maintain the place. They had the
charge of this place during the times full of stress and strife for
the Sikhs But with the passage of time, in early 20th century, these
Udasis Mahants began to treat this revenue free jagir as their personal
property and indulged in erotic and luxorious life. To get these historical
Gurdwaras from the hands of these apostates the Gurdwara Prabandh Sudhar
Movement was started. One peaceful Jatha that entered Gurdwara Janam
Asthan was mercilessly hacked by the mercenaries of Mahant Narain Dass.
Even the holy Sri Guru Granth Sahib was made target of thier bullets.
Many a people belonging to this jatha were tied to a Jand and burnt
alive. The Martyred half-burnt bodies were thrown into the well.
This incident gave such
an impetus to the Gurdwara Reform Movement that the Mahants had to handover
the shrines to the Sikh Sangats. The magnificent building of this gurdwara
alongwith the beautiful gardens, enthrals the onlookers and devotees.
There is a big sarovar and a spacious inn which provides accomodation
to the pilgrims. The historical Jand and the well are still existing,
telling the tale of atrocities perpetuated by Mahant Narain Dass on
simple-hearted and peace-loving Sikhs. According to Bhai Kahn Singh
Nabha, the auther of Gurshabd Ratnakar Mahan Kosh, this shrine had 18
thousand acres of land attached to it and a cash endowment of Rs. nine
thousand eight hundred and ninety two also.
By the partition of the Indian sub-continent,
the Sikhs not only lost many lives, wealth etc. but also thier most
loved and revered shrines which went to the other side of the border.
After this partition, a mention of Nankana Sahib Gurdwara in the daily
ardasa or prayer has become a reguler feature. These Sikh shrines in
Pakistan are managed by a Waqf Board and every year, Sikh Jathas visit
these shrines on four different occasions.
At present there are
25-30 Sikh families residing in Nankana Sahib and as a result of this,
daily service is performed and bani is recited. Bhai Partap Singh is
functioning as the Granthi. At the occassion of Guru Nanak's anniversary,
about three thousand Sikh devotees from India visit Nankana Sahib. Sikhs
from all over the world come there too.
