ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>KHA&#7692&#362R S&#256HIB</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="KHA jR,SHIB"> <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">&#65279KHA&#7692&#362R S&#256HIB, an old village 19 km east of Tarn T&#257ran (31º-27'N, 74º-56'E) in Amritsar district of the Punjab, is sacred to the first three Gur&#363s. Gur&#363 N&#257nak is said to have visited Kha&#7693&#363r once to meet his disciple, Bh&#257&#299 Jodh&#257, a Khaihr&#257 Ja&#7789&#7789. It was through Bh&#257&#299 Jodh&#257's example that Bh&#257&#299 Lahi&#7751&#257 (later, Gur&#363 A&#7749gad) was led to seek Gur&#363 N&#257nak's precept. Gur&#363 A&#7749gad's father, B&#257b&#257 Pher&#363, having left his ancestral place, Matte-d&#299-Sar&#257i, and the temporary abode at Har&#299ke, had made Kha&#7693&#363r his home. B&#257b&#257 Pher&#363's sister M&#257&#299 Bhar&#257&#299 was already married in Kha&#7693&#363r ; his son, Bh&#257&#299 Lahi&#7751&#257, was now married here in 1519. After the anointment of Bh&#257&#299 Lahi&#7751&#257 as Gur&#363 A&#7749gad in 1539, he, following Gur&#363 N&#257nak's instructions, returned to Kha&#7693&#363r, which became the centre of the Sikh faith. He stayed here till his death in 1552. It was at Kha&#7693&#363r that Amar D&#257s served him as a disciple and was in turn himself anointed Gur&#363. Kha&#7693&#363r S&#257hib has several <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> commemorating the holy Gur&#363s.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 TAPI&#256&#7750&#256 S&#256HIB, 200 metres north of the village, marks the site where Gur&#363 N&#257nak, accompanied, according to local tradition, by Bh&#257&#299 B&#257l&#257 and Bh&#257&#299 Mard&#257n&#257, preached to a gathering of devotees. It was here again that the events of Gur&#363 N&#257nak's life are said to have been recorded, in the form of a Janam S&#257kh&#299, as narrated by Bh&#257&#299 B&#257l&#257. A small platform near the Gurdw&#257r&#257 marks the spot where Bh&#257&#299 B&#257l&#257's mortal remains were cremated. The Gurdw&#257r&#257 comprises a square hall on a high plinth. The Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib is seated on a canopied throne of white marble. A lotus dome with an ornamental gold-plated pinnacle and an umbrella-shaped finial tops the hall, which also has a square-shaped domed kiosk above each of its corners. In front of the hall, in the middle of a one-acre brick-paved compound, is the <i>sarovar</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 TAP ASTH&#256N SR&#298 GUR&#362 A&#7748GAD DEV J&#298, opposite Gurdw&#257r&#257 Tapi&#257&#7751&#257 S&#257hib, marks the site where Gur&#363 A&#7749gad used to sit in meditation. It is a square domed hall with domed cubicles at top corners. The central dome has a gold-plated pinnacle, an umbrella-shaped finial and a <i>kha&#7751&#7693&#257</i> at the apex.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 DARB&#256R S&#256HIB A&#7748G&#298&#7788H&#256 S&#256HIB, within a high-walled compound entered through an old two-storeyed gateway, comprises a square domed sanctum with a circumambulatory passage and a hall in the front. The sanctum marks the site where Gur&#363 A&#7749gad's body was cremated. Close by is a square domed marble pavilion called K&#299ll&#257 S&#257hib or Kha&#7693&#7693&#299 S&#257hib. This was a weaver's pit, <i>kha&#7693&#7693&#299</i> in Punjabi, where B&#257b&#257 (later Gur&#363) Amar Das, carrying a pitcher of water for Gur&#363 A&#7749gad during a pitch dark night, stumbled against a k&#299ll&#257 or peg. An old well near the gateway, is called B&#299b&#299 Amaro J&#299 d&#257 Kh&#363h, or the Well of B&#299b&#299 Amaro, Gur&#363 A&#7749gad's daughter, whose hymn-singing had inspired B&#257b&#257 Amar D&#257s to seek spiritual solace at the feet of Gur&#363 A&#7749gad.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 M&#256&#298 BHAR&#256&#298, about 100 metres to the west of Gurdw&#257r&#257 Darb&#257r S&#257hib, constructed where M&#257&#299 Bhar&#257&#299's house once stood, marks another site consecrated by Gur&#363 A&#7749gad. According to Sikh chronicles, Gur&#363 A&#7749gad, as he arrived at Kha&#7693&#363r, from Kart&#257rpur where Gur&#363 N&#257nak had anointed him his successor, decided to go into undisturbed meditation for some time. He did not go to his own house, but shut himself up in a small room in M&#257&#299 Bhar&#257&#299's house and locked the door from inside. <i>Sa&#7749gats</i> that went to Kart&#257rpur to see the new Gur&#363 were led to Kha&#7693&#363r by Bh&#257&#299 Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 who, risking the Gur&#363's displeasure, tore a hole into one of the walls of the room in M&#257&#299 Bhar&#257&#299's house. He bowed at the Gur&#363's feet and announced how the Sikhs waited outside for a sight of him. Gur&#363 A&#7749gad came out of his temporary seclusion to meet the disciples. The new building of Gurdw&#257r&#257 M&#257&#299 Bhar&#257&#299, constructed during the 1980's, is a high-ceilinged hall with a gallery at mid-height. Its walls are lined with streaked marble slabs. The sanctum at the far end of the hall is topped by three storeys of square pavilions and a dome all covered with white glazed tiles.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 MALL AKH&#256&#7770&#256, at the northern edge of the village, marks the site where wrestling bouts for the youth were held in the time of Gur&#363 A&#7749gad. <i>Mall akh&#257&#7771&#257</i> literally means wrestlers' pit. Here the Gur&#363 also taught children Gurmukh&#299 letters. Even now young scholars are trained here in reciting the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. The present building is a square domed hall within a low-walled compound.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 TH&#256&#7770&#256 S&#256HIB GUR&#362 AMAR D&#256S, a small domed room, is built on a high plinth in the middle of a marble-floored platform. The Tha&#7771&#257, platform in Punjabi, marks the spot where B&#257b&#257 (Gur&#363) Amar D&#257s used to sit in meditation when he was not physically engaged in serving Gur&#363 A&#7749gad or his Sikhs.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; All these <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> are managed by the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee through a local committee.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Tw&#257r&#299<u>kh</u> Gurdu&#257ri&#257&#7749</i>. Amritsar, n.d.<BR> <li class="C1"> T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Sr&#299 Gur T&#299rath Sa&#7749grahi</i>. Kankhal, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Santokh Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299, <i>Sr&#299 Gur Prat&#257p S&#363raj Granth</i>. Amritsar, 1927-33<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">D&#299w&#257n Si&#7749gh Bhall&#257<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>