ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>GW&#256L&#298OR (26º-10'N, 78º-8'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="GWL*OR"> <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">&#65279GW&#256L&#298OR (26º-10'N, 78º-8'E), formerly the capital of a princely state, is now a district town in Madhya Pradesh. It is a railway junction on the Central Railway, 120 km south of &#256gr&#257, and an important road junction along the &#256gr&#257-Bombay national highway. Gurdw&#257r&#257 D&#257t&#257 Band&#299 Chho&#7771 P&#257tsh&#257h&#299 VI, dedicated to Gur&#363 Hargobind, is situated inside the historic rock-fort of Gw&#257l&#299or, about 3 km from the railway station. Gur&#363 Hargobind was detained in this fort for some time under the orders of the Mu<u>gh</u>al Emperor Jah&#257&#7749g&#299r. Historians have differed widely as regards the exact period of the Gur&#363's detention, but it appears he remained confined to the fort for a few months sometime between 1617 and 1619. Sikh tradition is, however, unanimous in asserting that, when the Emperor ordered the release of Gur&#363 Hargobind, he refused to come out alone. There were in the fort fifty-two other captives, chiefs and princes, seized from different parts of the country. Gur&#363 Hargobind insisted that they should be set free, too. The Emperor ordered that as many prisoners as could hold on to the Gur&#363's robe could come out with him. It is said that Gur&#363 Hargobind had a special cloak made with 52 strings attached to it. All the fifty-two captives each caught a string and came out of the fort with the Gur&#363. From that day, Gur&#363 Hargobind came to be known as D&#257t&#257 Band&#299-Chho&#7771, the Munificent Deliverer.' A shrine bearing this name was established to mark the place where Gur&#363 Hargobind had lived in captivity.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The shrine was looked after by Muslim <i>faq&#299rs</i> till after 1947 when the site was acquired by the Sikhs and a Gurdw&#257r&#257 was built. The original shrine is also maintained in the form of a rectangular marbled platform, on a base 7-metre square and one-metre high. It is shaded by a handsomely carved marble canopy and is guarded by two marble lions in sitting posture in the front.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The construction of the new building started on Poh <i>sud&#299</i> 7, 2024 Bk/6 January 1968, under the supervision of Sant Jha&#7751&#7693&#257 Si&#7749gh and Uttam Si&#7749gh Maun&#299 of Kha&#7693&#363r S&#257hib. The central building of stone and concrete has six-storeys, including the basement, with a central dome on top and smaller domed pavilions at the corners. The main assembly hall, supported on massive square pillars in the middle, is fairly large, with a raised platform for the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. In a separate compound is the Gur&#363 k&#257 La&#7749gar, with a kitchen, a refectory.</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"><i>Gurbil&#257s Chhev&#299&#7749 P&#257tsh&#257h&#299</i> . Patiala, 1970<BR> <li class="C1"> Macauliffe, Max Arthur, <i>The Sikh Religion</i>. Oxford, 1909<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>