ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>AMB&#256L&#256 (30º-23'N, 76º-47'E)</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="AMBL"> <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">&#65279AMB&#256L&#256, (30º-23'N, 76º-47'E), a city in Hary&#257&#7751&#257, has several historical shrines sacred to the Gur&#363s.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 B&#256DSH&#256H&#298 B&#256<u>GH</u>, situated near the district courts, occupies the site which used to be a halting place for the Mu<u>gh</u>al emperors when travelling from Delhi to the Punjab or Kashm&#299r. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh came here at the end of 1670 or in early 1671 during one of his excursions from Lakhnaur. Then only a small child, he had greatly impressed P&#299r N&#363r D&#299n (or M&#299r D&#299n), custodian of the nearby Muslim shrine. According to local tradition, the young Gur&#363 miraculously made ordinary sparrows fight against the arrogant P&#299r's hawk which, badly mauled, fell down dead near Labh&#363 k&#257 T&#257l&#257b in another part of the city. The P&#299r, now humbled, made obeisance to the Gur&#363, and built a platform in his honour. Later during the last quarter of the eighteenth century, Mehar Si&#7749gh of Nish&#257n&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299 <i>misl</i> raised a small <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> which, however, was blown off during a British attack on the rebel forces in 1857. The land thereafter passed into private possession. The owner, having become aware of the sanctity of the place, built a room on the old foundations, but it was in a state of neglect when the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee took it over in 1926. Five years later, through the initiative of Sant Gurmukh Si&#7749gh of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, the Sikhs erected a more befitting building and laid out a garden around it. The present complex was raised by Nirmal&#257 saints after the partition of 1947. The management again passed to the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee and the Nirmal&#257s shifted to an <i>&#257shram</i> near by.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Gurdw&#257r&#257 entered through a high gate in a wall with ramparts giving it the appearance of a fortress. The rectangular <i>d&#299v&#257n</i> hall has a vaulted ceiling. The sanctum within the hall marks the site of the old shrine.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 GOBINDPUR&#256 P&#256TSH&#256H&#298 D&#256SV&#298&#7748, located along the Jain College Road, close to an old tank called Labbh&#363 k&#257 T&#257l&#257b is sacred to Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh. According to local tradition, Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, during his visit to Amb&#257l&#257 in 1670-71, in order to humble the pride of an arrogant Muslim divine, P&#299r N&#363r D&#299n, miraculously made sparrows kill the P&#299r's hawk. The hawk, chased by the sparrows, fell down dead near Labh&#363 k&#257 T&#257l&#257b. It was a Muslim locality. P&#299r Sayyid Sh&#257h, another Muslim divine, witnessed the miracle from here, and sought from the young Gur&#363 the favour of a spring of sweet water as the wells in the area were brackish. The well dug at the Gur&#363's instance still exists in the backyard of the <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i>. The present building, however, was constructed only after 1947. It consists of a single flat roofed hall, which includes a square sanctum, marking the site of the original shrine.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 MAÑJ&#298 S&#256HIB (B&#256OL&#298 S&#256HIB) is the premier <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> of the city. Gur&#363 Hargobind, while on his way to Delhi to meet Emperor Jah&#257&#7749g&#299r, stayed here for a night. The place, then a small village called <u>Kh</u>urrampur, suffered from a chronic scarcity of water. The Gur&#363 asked his followers to construct a <i>b&#257ol&#299</i>, or a well with steps reaching down to water level. The <i>b&#257ol&#299</i> was ready by the time he returned and broke journey here again for an overnight halt. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh is also said to have visited the place travelling towards Kurukshetra in 1702. According to local tradition, Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur also halted here before advancing upon Chhat-Ban&#363&#7771 and Sirhind in 1710. On the establishment of Sikh power in the Punjab during the second half of the eighteenth century, Amb&#257l&#257 and its surrounding territory fell to the share of the Nish&#257n&#257&#7751v&#257l&#299 Misl. Mehar Si&#7749gh of this <i>misl</i> or chiefship got the <i>b&#257ol&#299</i> restored and had a room built on the site of the old Mañj&#299 S&#257hib. <u>Kh</u>urrampur village was subsequently destroyed by floods in the river &#7788&#257&#7749gr&#299, and the shrine remained in a state of neglect until Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh (1843-1911) of N&#257bh&#257 rebuilt it at the beginning of the twentieth century. Following the partition of the Punjab in 1947, the Sikh population increased with migrations from West Punjab. The cornerstone of a new building was laid on 12 May 1951. The main building consists of an imposing three-storeyed gateway, flanked by octagonal domed towers and a spacious rectangular hall. Within the hall is the sanctum marking the site of the original Mañj&#299 S&#257hib. The<i>b&#257ol&#299</i> is at the farthest end of the hall. A local committee manages the shrine subject to the overall control of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee. A girls school, named in honour of Gur&#363 Hargobind, functions on the premises of the Gurdw&#257r&#257. The most important festival of the year is the birth anniversary of Gur&#363 Hargobind which comes off in the month of June.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 SATSA&#7748G S&#256HIB honours the memory of Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur and Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh (1666-1708), once on his way from Anandpur to Kurukshetra, halted here under a tree near the potters' huts. An old man, Mehar Dh&#363m&#299&#257&#7749, urged the Gur&#363 to shift away from the tree which, he said, was haunted. He described an old incident saying that one evening an unidentified traveller had stopped there with his load of a covered basket and had asked him (Dh&#363m&#299&#257&#7749) if there was a Sikh house in the vicinity. Dh&#363m&#299&#257&#7749 had directed the wayfarer towards the locality where the shrine of Twakkal Sh&#257h stood, but, to his horror, he observed bloodstains on the branch-leaves where the stranger had hung his basket. From the circumstances narrated Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh could make out that the stranger was no other than Bh&#257&#299 Jait&#257, carrying to Anandpur the head of Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur. A platform was raised on the site. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh prolonged his stay holding holy assemblies or <i>satsa&#7749g</i> for the Sikhs. The shrine came to be known as Gurdw&#257r&#257 Satsa&#7749g. For a long time this sacred spot remained part of the private house of its priests. It was only in 1934 that a committee was formed. A new building was raised in 1935. In recent years another hall has been added, enclosing the older double storeyed domed structure.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 S&#298S GAÑJ, about 300 metres from Gurdw&#257r&#257 Mañj&#299 S&#257hib, is sacred to Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur. After the Gur&#363 had been executed publically in Delhi on 11 November 1675 under the orders of Emperor Aura&#7749gz&#299b, one of his Sikhs, Bh&#257&#299 Jait&#257 carried off his severed head to Anandpur, while his body was cremated by Bh&#257&#299 Lakkh&#299 Sh&#257h in Delhi. Bh&#257&#299 Jait&#257 travelling incognito with the Gur&#363's head (<i>s&#299s</i>) stayed in a Sikh's house in Amb&#257l&#257, the site of the Gurdw&#257r&#257 S&#299s Gañj. Local devotees raised a platform to mark the spot. In 1913, when the Sikh Educational Conference met for its sixth annual session at Amb&#257l&#257, the site sprang into limelight. The custodians of the adjoining Muslim shrine of Twakkal Sh&#257h objected to the Sikhs' visiting the place in large numbers. A civil suit followed which, however, went in the Sikhs' favour. In 1925, the control was entrusted to the newly constituted Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee. The new building, completed in 1969, consists of a double storeyed domed gateway and a small <i>d&#299v&#257n</i> hall.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Sr&#299 Gur T&#299rath Sa&#7749grahi</i>. Amritsar, n. d.<BR> <li class="C1"> &#7788h&#257kar Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Sr&#299 Gurdu&#257re Darshan</i>. Amritsar, 1923<BR> <li class="C1"> Randhir, G. S. , <i>Sikh Shrines in India</i>. Delhi, 1990<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Major Gurmukh Si&#7749gh (Retd.)<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>