ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>&#7692ER&#256 B&#256B&#256 N&#256NAK (30º-2'N, 75º-2'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=" ER,BB,NNAK"> <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">&#65279&#7692ER&#256 B&#256B&#256 N&#256NAK (30º-2'N, 75º-2'E), on the left bank of the River R&#257v&#299 in Gurd&#257spur district of the Punjab, is sacred to Gur&#363 N&#257nak, who on the conclusion of one of his long travels arrived here and sat near a well owned by Ajitt&#257 Randh&#257v&#257, the <i>chaudhar&#299</i> or headman of Pakkhoke Randh&#257ve, village where the Gur&#363's family had been staying with his wife's parents. Around the spot where he had halted grew the town of &#7692er&#257 B&#257b&#257 N&#257nak. As the news of the Gur&#363's arrival spread, people from the surrounding villages started pouring in ever-increasing numbers to see him and receive his blessing. Bh&#257&#299 Ajitt&#257 requested him to settle down permanently at or near Pakkhoke. This led to the foundation of a habitation across the R&#257v&#299, which the Gur&#363 named Kart&#257rpur. On his death, on 7 September 1539, his ashes were buried near Kart&#257rpur and a monument raised over them. But the monument was soon after washed away by a flood in the river. Gur&#363 N&#257nak's elder son, B&#257b&#257 Sr&#299 Chand, who was then staying at Pakkhoke, got the urn containing the ashes salvaged, reburied it close to Ajitt&#257's well and raised over the spot a mud hut which came to be called Dehr&#257 or <i>sam&#257dh</i> of Gur&#363 N&#257nak. Later B&#257b&#257 Dharam D&#257s, the son of Gur&#363 N&#257nak's younger son, Lakhm&#299 D&#257s, founded a new habitation around this Dehr&#257 and named it &#7692er&#257 B&#257b&#257 N&#257nak. There are two historical <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> in the town now.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 DARB&#256R S&#256HIB, in the centre of the town, comprises three separate memorials. The well which originally belonged to Bh&#257&#299 Ajitt&#257 Randh&#257v&#257 still exists and is reverently called Sarj&#299 S&#257hib. Pilgrims take its water home in the belief that it possesses curative properties. The second memorial is the K&#299rtan Asth&#257n, a rectangular hall, which marks the site where Gur&#363 Arjan had sat rapt in <i>k&#299rtan</i> when visiting &#7692er&#257 B&#257b&#257 N&#257nak for condolence on the death of B&#257b&#257 Dharam D&#257s. The Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib is seated in the hall. The central shrine, called Tha&#7771&#257 S&#257hib, marks the <i>tha&#7771&#257</i>, or platform, on which Gur&#363 N&#257nak had sat when he first came to Ajitt&#257's well and where, later, B&#257b&#257 Sr&#299 Chand buried his father's ashes. The Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib is seated here in a small square pavilion with a pinnacled lotus dome under an over-hanging gilded canopy. The whole pavilion is covered with gold-plated metal sheets with some of the hymns of Gur&#363 N&#257nak embossed on them. The Tha&#7771&#257 S&#257hib is at one end of a recently constructed spacious hall, above which, over the sanctum, is a square domed room with an ornamental arched coping and domed kiosks at the corners. The entire exterior above the roof level of this room is covered with gold-plated metal sheets. The gold-work on top as well as on the sanctum was got executed in 1827 by Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh, who also made endowments in cash and land for the maintenance of the shrine.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Gurdw&#257r&#257 is administered by the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee through a local committee. Special <i>d&#299v&#257ns</i> take place on every <i>am&#257vasy&#257</i>, the last day of the dark half of the lunar month, and all major anniversaries, especially the one marking the death of Gur&#363 N&#257nak, are observed. But the most important annual event is the fair celebrating the Bais&#257kh&#299 festival. A handwritten copy of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib is preserved in this Gurdw&#257r&#257. It has 1660 pages, each page having a handsomely illuminated border.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 LA&#7748GAR MANDIR CHOL&#256 S&#256HIB, in the eastern part of the town, is connected with a relic - a <i>chol&#257</i>, or cloak, believed to have been presented to Gur&#363 N&#257nak by a Muslim devotee at Ba<u>gh</u>d&#257d. The <i>chol&#257</i>, bearing some Qur&#257'nic verses and Arabic numerals, arranged in the form of charms embroidered on it, was procured from Ba<u>gh</u>d&#257d by B&#257b&#257 K&#257bal&#299 Mall, a descendant of Gur&#363 N&#257nak, it is said. It was brought to &#7692er&#257 B&#257b&#257 N&#257nak on 20 Ph&#257gun 1884 Bk / 1 March 1828. A special shrine was constructed where the Chol&#257 S&#257hib was kept and where it was put on display at the time of a fair held from 21 to 23 Ph&#257gun, early March, every year. From the Gur&#363 k&#257 La&#7749gar which serves the pilgrims, the shrine has come to be known as Gurdw&#257r&#257 La&#7749gar Mandir Chol&#257 S&#257hib. It was under private management of the resident descendants of Gur&#363 N&#257nak. As the Gurdw&#257r&#257 reform movement got under way, the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee claimed possession of the shrine, but the owners resisted. In the end, the control of the Gurdw&#257r&#257 passed to the Committee, but Chol&#257 S&#257hib, the relic, remained with the family. It is now displayed in a glass case in a private house, about 50 metres from the Gurdw&#257r&#257, attended in rotation by three Bed&#299 families living there.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gurdw&#257r&#257 La&#7749gar Mandir Chol&#257 S&#257hib is now administered by the local committee managing Gurdw&#257r&#257 Darb&#257r S&#257hib. The 3-day annual fair and Gur&#363 k&#257 La&#7749gar are held as usual in the adjoining compound. The Gurdw&#257r&#257 compound also has within it the <i>sam&#257dh</i> of B&#257b&#257 K&#257bal&#299 Mall and an octagon-shaped old well. The local belief is that the water of this well cures women whose offspring die during infancy.</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> </ol><p class="CONT">Major Gurmukh Si&#7749gh (Retd.)<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>