GURU YATRA

Sikhism

They worship at temples known as gurdwaras, babtise their children (when they are old enough to understand the religion) in a ceremony known as pahul and cremate their dead. The Holy book of Sikhs is the Granth Sahib, which contains the work of the 10 Sikh Gurus together with Hindu and Muslim Sufi writings. The holy book teaches the lessons of equality and brotherhood.

Baba Guru Nanak Ji

Baba Nanak raised the first gurdwara in his life time which he called the Dharamsala- the place of righteousness. At a later stage Dharamshala become the gurdwara. A gurdwara is more like a “dargah” than a mosque. Like the Sufis, the Sikhs became an integral part of the Sikh religious life. Every gurdwara is obliged to provide food and shelter for all who ask for it, irrespective of their caste or creed.

Gurudwara Janamasthan

The most important of the Sikhs historic gurdwara are in Nankana Sahib (Sheikhupura) district where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Ji, (1469-1539 AD) was born at a village known as Talwandi Rai Bhoe. It belonged to Bhatti; a Rajput chieftain who become a friend and admirer of Baba Nanak. Nanak Ji was a strict monotheist believing in the eve and only God who could not be represented by stone idols. He, like the Muslims, rejected the Hindu caste System and preached the equality and brotherhood of man.

Dera Sahib

 The fifth guru of the Sikhs, Guru Arjun Ji was incarcerated here pending his trial. Guru Arjun was the real founder of the Sikh Church. He compiled the holy scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, which is an anthology of mystic writings of the Gurus, Hindu Bhaktas and Muslim Sufis, notably Shaikh Baba Farid of Pakpattan Sharif. Guru Arjun Ji also built the Harimandir (the present day Golden Temple) at Amritsar. He had the foundation stone of the temple laid by Sufi Saint Hazarat Mian Meer Sahib of Lahore. Guru Arjun Ji was placed under arrest by Dewan Chandu Lal. One morning when allowed to bath in the Ravi which sun along side the jail, he disappeared in the stream. This was in 1606. He became the first and the most important martyr of the Sikhs. Later under Guru Gobind Singh Ji the Sikhs achieved great success and glory.

Punja Sahib

A tremendous amount of sanctity is accorded by Sikhs to Punja Sahib. The name is derived from a hand (panja) imprint on a boulder above a water spring. According to legend when Baba Nanak was encamped by the spring, wali Kandhari, a Sufi Ascetic who had his “dera” atop the hill and envied Baba Nanak's success rolled the boulder down to crush Nanak Ji. The Guru stopped it with his hand which got imprinted on it. Kandhari became a disciple of Baba Nanak. The surroundings of Punja sahib are very charming. There is a sparking cool water tank full of fish, the water bubbles out of a crevice in the rock.

Land of the Pure

For the Sikhs a pilgrimage to Pakistan is both spiritual and historical, a journey to seek and discover one's beginnings. It is in Pakistan that Nankana Sahib, the oldest and the most revered of all Sikh gurdwaras it to be found. It is the museum at Lahore that one of the oldest manuscripts of Guru Garanth Sahib is placed. It is in Pakistan where Guru Nanak Ji was born and it is here, on the banks of the ageless river Ravi near Narowal, where his spirit rests in eternal place. There are other equally compelling reasons to come. The shrines of all the famous Punjabi poets, from Baba Farid to Khawaja Ghulam Farid are located in Pakistan.

A land with over 200 historical gurdwara's and numerous examples testifying to the glory of the Sikh past, is surely the place that must reach out and touch every Sikh's heart.