ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>DARB&#256R</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="DARBR"> <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">&#65279DARB&#256R, a Persian word meaning "a house, dwelling; court, area; court or levee of a prince; audience chamber, " is commonly used in Punjabi to signify a royal, princely or any high ranking officer's court (as distinguished from courts of justice) where dignitaries granted audience to the common people, listened to their grievances, or deliberated with their <i>darb&#257r&#299s</i> (courtiers) on matters of public interest. In Sikhism the term came to have extended meaning as Gur&#363 N&#257nak and his holy successors introduced terms such as <i>sach&#257</i> p&#257tis&#257hu, True Emperor (GG, 17, 18, 463 <i>et al. </i>), <i>sir&#299 sach&#257 p&#257tis&#257h&#363</i>, at the head of kings and emperors (GG, 1426) for God Almighty. Later, the Gur&#363s themselves came to be called <i>sachch&#257 p&#257tsh&#257h</i>. The Gur&#363's court, therefore, also came to be called <i>gur-darb&#257r</i> or the <i>gur&#363's darb&#257r</i>. In a hymn by Gur&#363 Arjan addressed, according to tradition, to his father, Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s, the Gur&#363's presence is referred to as <i>gur-darb&#257r</i> (GG, 97). After Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh had discontinued the institution of human <i>gur&#363</i> replacing it by <i>&#347abda-gur&#363</i> (the Word as Gur&#363) and passed on the gur&#363ship eternally to the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, the Holy Book itself as well as its court, the <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i>, came to be popularly called Darb&#257r or reverently, Sr&#299 Darb&#257r S&#257hib. This name is particularly given to the <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> complexes at Amritsar and Tarn T&#257ran, as also officially to some other historical <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> such as the principal shrine at &#7692er&#257 B&#257b&#257 N&#257nak and the shrine raised over the cremation site of Gur&#363 A&#7749gad at Kha&#7693&#363r S&#257hib.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Sikh usage of the term <i>darb&#257r</i> for holy places has since spread to other communities so that Hindu devotees of Punjab, Him&#257chal Pradesh and Jamm&#363 region also refer to temples raised to their goddess as <i>M&#257t&#257 d&#257 Darb&#257r</i>, the court of the Mother Goddess.</p> </ol><p class="CONT">Major Gurmukh Si&#7749gh (Retd.)<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>