ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>ACHAL S&#256HIB GURDW&#256R&#256</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="ACHAL,SHIB,GURDWR"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279ACHAL S&#256HIB, GURDW&#256R&#256, sacred to Gur&#363 N&#257nak, is located on the boundary of S&#257lho and Ch&#257hal villages along the Jalandhar-Ba&#7789&#257l&#257 road, 6 km south of Ba&#7789&#257l&#257 (31º 49'N, 75º 12'E) in Gurd&#257spur district of the Punjab. The low mound on which the Gurdw&#257r&#257 is situated, in close proximity of the ancient Hindu temple dedicated to K&#257rtikeya, son of Lord &#346iva, is popularly known as Achal Va&#7789&#257l&#257. The Achal temple had since old times been a place of pilgrimage visited by <i>s&#257dh&#363s</i> from distant parts, especially during the annual fair held on the occasion of &#346ivar&#257tri festival. Suj&#257n R&#257i Bha&#7751&#7693&#257r&#299, <i><u>Kh</u>ul&#257sat ut-Tw&#257r&#299<u>kh</u>, </i> writing at the end of the seventeenth century, gives a graphic account of this fair. Gur&#363 N&#257nak came here at the time of one such fair from Kart&#257rpur, an habitation he had founded on the bank of the River R&#257v&#299. In the words of the <i>Miharb&#257n Janam S&#257kh&#299, </i> "As the Gur&#363 entered Achal, the name N&#257nak spread everywhere among the crowds. Everyone began to say that N&#257nak, the renowned saint, had come. N&#257nak whose <i>&#347abdas</i> or hymns the world recited was himself there. Whoever was in Achal, rushed to see him. Neither a <i>yog&#299</i> was left nor a <i>sanny&#257s&#299</i>; neither a householder was left nor a recluse. Not a soul remained behind; whosoever there was thronged to the spot saying, &#8220N&#257nak hath come, N&#257nak hath come. " Gur&#363 N&#257nak held a long discourse with the N&#257th-yog&#299s led by Bha&#7749gar N&#257th, who, according to Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s, <i>V&#257r&#257&#7749</i>, I. 40, began by questioning him, "Why hast thou soured the milk by adding vinegar to it? Whoever obtained butter by churning sour milk? Why, casting off the vestment of an Ud&#257s&#299, hast thou again adopted the life of a householder?" "Bha&#7749gar N&#257th, " replied the Gur&#363, "it is thou that hast been perversely instructed. Thou didst not cleanse the vessel well, so the butter turned rancid. Abandoning home-life thou turnest an anchorite, and yet thou goest to beg at the doors of the householders. Thou wouldst have nothing to live by if they gave thee nought. " The N&#257ths then tried to overawe Gur&#363 N&#257nak with a display of their magical powers, and challenged him to show them a miracle. But the Gur&#363 condemned their wizardry and said, "The magic of the Siddhas is vain and futile. I rely on nothing except the holy fellowship and the Word. Besides the True Name, I possess no other miracle. " "By the Gur&#363's Word, " says Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s, "contentment came to the Siddhas. "</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A memorial platform was raised on the site where Gur&#363 N&#257nak had halted. A small <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> was raised during the eighteenth century and was attended by a line of<i>mahants</i>. According to revenue records, the Gurdw&#257r&#257 was owned by one Ma&#7749gal Si&#7749gh in 1892. His son, Sundar Si&#7749gh, succeeded him in 1904. Sundar Si&#7749gh's son, S&#363rat Si&#7749gh, was the <i>mahant</i> or custodian, when, around 1923, a <i>jath&#257</i> from the nearby village of Jaito Sarj&#257, under the leadership of Jathed&#257r Kesar Si&#7749gh occupied the Gurdw&#257r&#257 and seven acres of land attached to it. S&#363rat Si&#7749gh had offered no resistance. Subsequent to the passing of the Sikh Gurdw&#257r&#257s Act, 1925, the mangement was officially handed over to the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee on 28 April 1926. The foundation of the present building was laid on 17 October 1935. The complex, completed in 1946, consists of an 8-metre square sanctum within a high ceilinged hall, with a gallery all around at mid height and a pinnacled lotus dome on top. There are square domed kiosks at the corners of the hall roof and solid lotus blossoms-in-leaves on the wall tops. Rooms for pilgrims and the Gur&#363 k&#257 La&#7749gar are across a brick-paved courtyard close by.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Gurdw&#257r&#257 is affiliated to the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee, but the administration has been temporarily handed over to the successors of Sant Gurmukh Si&#7749gh. In addition to morning and evening services, largely-attended congregations take place on every <i>am&#257vas</i>, the last day of the dark half of the month. The biggest function of the year is the annual fair which now takes place from the ninth to the eleventh day after the D&#299v&#257l&#299 festival. The fair, although a continuation of the time honoured pilgrimage to the Hindu temple and tank, has in recent decades become more local in its appeal and increasingly Sikh in religious character and attendance.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> &#7788h&#257kar Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Sr&#299 Gurdu&#257re Darshan</i>. Amritsar, 1923<BR> <li class="C1"> T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Sr&#299 Gur T&#299rath Sa&#7749grahi</i>. Amritsar, n. d.<BR> <li class="C1"> Randhir, G. S. , <i>Sikh Shrines in India</i>. Delhi, 1990<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">John C. B. Webster<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>