ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>N&#256BH&#256</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="NBH"> <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">&#65279N&#256BH&#256, in Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 district, 15 km south of Cha&#7751&#7693&#299ga&#7771h (30º-44'N, 76º-46'E), has a historical <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> dedicated to Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur and Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh. The shrine, called Gurdw&#257r&#257 &#346&#299s Asth&#257n P&#257tsh&#257h&#299 IX <i>ate</i> P&#363j&#257 Asth&#257n P&#257tsh&#257h&#299 X or simply, Gurdw&#257r&#257 N&#257bh&#257 S&#257hib, is situated 200 metres south of the habitation. During the seventeenth century N&#257bh&#257 did not exist and the area was covered by a dense forest. In November 1675, Bh&#257&#299 Jait&#257, carrying the severed head of Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur from Delhi to Anandpur spent a night here in the solitary hut of an old Muslim recluse, Darg&#257h&#299 Sh&#257h, who on hearing an account of the tragic happenings from the former, kept watch over Bh&#257&#299 Jait&#257's sacred charge, enabling him to take a few hours' undisturbed sleep. As Bh&#257&#299 Jait&#257 prepared to depart the next morning, Darg&#257h&#299 Sh&#257h asked him to convey to Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh how anxious he was to see him and yet how disappointed he felt at his inability to travel to Anandpur owing to his old age. Thirteen years later, Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh travelling back from P&#257o&#7751&#7789&#257 to Anandpur in November 1688 alighted at the faquir's hut one evening, thus granting him his heart's wish.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A small mud platform marked this site until a <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> was constructed and endowed by Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Karam Si&#7749gh (1798-1845) of Pati&#257l&#257. The shrine, as built by the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257, was a square sanctum, with covered circumambulatory passage. An assembly hall and some ancillary buildings were added in 1956. The Gurdw&#257r&#257 is now managed by a local committee, under the auspices of the Shiroman&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee. Special <i>d&#299v&#257ns</i> are held on the first of every Bikr&#257m&#299 month. An annual festival takes place on 21-22 Ass&#363, corresponding to 6-7 or 7-8 October, in the local belief that it was on one of these dates, and not in November, that Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh visited the place in 1688.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> T&#257r&#257 Singh <i> Sr&#299 Gur T&#299rath Sa&#7749grahi </i>. Amritsar, n.d.<BR> <li class="C1"> Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i> Tw&#257r&#299<u>kh</u> Gur&#363 <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 </i> [Reprint]. Patiala, 1970<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>