ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>B&#256B&#256 BAK&#256L&#256 (31º-34'N, 75º-16'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="BB,BAKL"> <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">&#65279B&#256B&#256 BAK&#256L&#256 (31º-34'N, 75º-16'E), a small town in Amritsar district of the Punjab, is sacred to Gur&#363 Hargobind and Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur. The original name of the place was Bak&#257l&#257. As Gur&#363 Har Krishan lay on his death-bed in Delhi, he was asked by the <i>sa&#7749gat</i> to name his successor. All that the Gur&#363 could say at that time was B&#257b&#257 Bak&#257le' meaning that (Gur&#363) Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur, who was the brother of his (Gur&#363 Har Krishan's) grandfather <i>(b&#257b&#257)</i> and who was living at Bak&#257l&#257, was to be the next Gur&#363. Bak&#257l&#257, thereafter, came to be called B&#257b&#257 Bak&#257l&#257. Earlier, Gur&#363 Hargobind had also resided at Bak&#257l&#257 with his mother, M&#257t&#257 Ga&#7749g&#257, who died at this place. Several shrines perpetuate their memory.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;DARB&#256R S&#256HIB marks the site where Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur was anointed Gur&#363 and where he used to preach to his Sikhs. It comprises a congregation hall, with a square sanctum in the middle of it. The dome on top of the sanctum has an ornamental pinnacle and a large umbrella-shaped finial.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 BHOR&#256 S&#256HIB, a nine-storeyed octagonal edifice with a gilded dome topped by an ornamental pinnacle and umbrella shaped finial, marks the basement room, <i>bhor&#257</i> in Punjabi, where Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur used to sit in meditation. After the death of Gur&#363 Hargobind in 1644, his youngest son, Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur, and his mother, N&#257nak&#299, had shifted from K&#299ratpur to Bak&#257l&#257, where they stayed until Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur was anointed and proclaimed Gur&#363 in 1664. He spent this interval in voluntary solitude and religious contemplation. Even after his formal installation on 11 August 1664 as Gur&#363, he continued to live in seclusion and did nothing to counter the claims of the several pretenders to the gur&#363ship who were confusing and misleading the common Sikhs, until Makkhan Sh&#257h, a wealthy trader and a staunch follower of the Sikh faith, came to Bak&#257l&#257, discovered Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur sitting here in the <i>bhor&#257</i>, deeply absorbed in meditation, to be the real Gur&#363 and publicly proclaimed the fact from the rooftop. Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur then actively took up the responsibility of instructing the Sikh community and guiding its affairs. He travelled extensively and made K&#299ratpur his headquarters, but the <i>bhor&#257</i> at Bak&#257l&#257 became, and has remained ever since, a sacred shrine for the Sikhs. The present building was completed in 1952.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 CHH&#256O&#7750&#298 S&#256HIB is situated in a grove of old banyan and <i>p&#299pal</i> trees. According to local tradition, Gur&#363 Hargobind's soldiery had their camp here. The place is now occupied by the Niha&#7749gs of the Taru&#7751&#257 Dal, who stay here with their horses and cattle. The Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib is seated in a simple, 6 metre square, room.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 MAÑJ&#298 S&#256HIB, a small glass covered domed pavilion raised over a marble lined platform to the north of Darb&#257r S&#257hib and in line with Bhor&#257 S&#257hib, is the spot where, according to local tratition, Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur was fired at and wounded by Sh&#299h&#257&#7749, the Masand, at the behest of Dh&#299r Mall, a nephew of the Gur&#363 and one of the pretenders to the gur&#363ship.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 M&#256T&#256 GA&#7748G&#256 J&#298, half a kilometre northeast of Darb&#257r S&#257hib, is dedicated to Gur&#363 Hargobind's mother, M&#257t&#257 Ga&#7749g&#257, who died at Bak&#257l&#257 on 15 H&#257&#7771 1685Bk/12 June 1628. M&#257t&#257 Ga&#7749g&#257 had desired that her dead body should not be cremated but be immersed in the River Be&#257s. Accordingly, the hearse was prepared and the body taken out in a procession, with the <i>sa&#7749gat</i> chanting hymns. After the immersion of the dead body, the hearse was brought back to Bak&#257l&#257 where a symbolic cremation was carried out and a <i>sam&#257dh</i> built. The present Gurdw&#257r&#257 M&#257t&#257 Ga&#7749g&#257j&#299 was constructed during the 1960's by B&#257b&#257 Bishan Si&#7749gh Niha&#7749g of the Taru&#7751&#257 Dal who continues to administer it. The building, in a walled compound, is a rectangular hall, with the 5-metre sqaure sanctum at the far end.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;SH&#298SH MAHAL M&#256T&#256 GA&#7748G&#256 J&#298, close to Bhor&#257 S&#257hib, represents the house where M&#257t&#257 Ga&#7749g&#257 and, later, M&#257t&#257 N&#257nak&#299 lived. It is a single flat-roofed room, with glass panelled doors on three sides. The Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib rests here for the night.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gurdw&#257r&#257s Bhor&#257 S&#257hib, Darb&#257r S&#257hib, M&#257&#7749j&#299 S&#257hib and Sh&#299sh Mahal, situated close to one another, are managed by the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee through a local committee. The others are under the control of the Niha&#7749gs of the Taru&#7751&#257 Dal who have recently established some more shrines dedicated to Gur&#363 Hargobind.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Sr&#299 Gur Tirath 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"> Fauj&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur: Y&#257tr&#257 Asth&#257n, Prampar&#257v&#257&#7749 te Y&#257d Chinn</i>. Patiala, 1976<BR> <li class="C1"> Randhir, G. S. , <i>Sikh Shrines in India</i>. Delhi, 1990<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Jagj&#299t Si&#7749gh <br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>