ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>TARN T&#256RAN (31º-27'N, 74º-56'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="TARN,TRAN"> <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">&#65279TARN T&#256RAN (31º-27'N, 74º-56'E), important centre of Sikh pilgrimage 24 km south of Amritsar, was founded by Gur&#363 Arjan in 1596. Six years earlier, on 13 April 1590, he had inaugurated the conversion of a natural pond lying along the Delhi-Lahore highway into a quadrangular tank. Digging operations on full scale commenced on the last day of the dark half of the month, Bh&#257do&#7749, falling on 19 August 1590. With the completion of digging, on Chet <i>vad&#299 Am&#257vas</i> 1653 Bk/19 March 1596, began the construction of the main shrine, the Darb&#257r S&#257hib, and ancillary buildings. Meanwhile, a local official, N&#363r ud-D&#299n, ordered under imperial authority the construction of a new caravan serai along the royal highway and confiscated to this end all the bricks and the kilns in which they were burnt for the holy shrine at Tarn T&#257ran. He deputed his son, Am&#299r ud-D&#299n, to have the bricks carried to the serai site where, besides the inn, a complete habitation named N&#363r D&#299n sprang up. This was about 6 km to the northwest of the Gur&#363's tank. Further development of Tarn T&#257ran remained suspended until 1768, when Sard&#257r Budh Si&#7749gh of Faizull&#257pur&#299a <i>misl</i> occupied the entire <i>parganah</i> of Pa&#7789&#7789&#299, uprooted the village of N&#363r D&#299n and the serai, and brought their bricks back to the site of this <i>sarovar</i>. Sard&#257r Budh Si&#7749gh and Sard&#257r Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh R&#257mga&#7771h&#299&#257 joined hands to have the building of the Darb&#257r S&#257hib constructed. Some <i>bu&#7749g&#257s</i> or dwelling houses were also built on the periphery of the holy tank. Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh visited the shrine in 1802. It was here that he exchanged turbans with Sard&#257r Fateh Si&#7749gh &#256hl&#363v&#257l&#299&#257 as a token of lasting friendship. Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh had the steps on the two sides of the <i>sarovar</i>, left unfinished by Budh Si&#7749gh and Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh, completed and its circumambulatory passage paved. The Darb&#257r S&#257hib was also reconstructed. Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh and his grandson Ka&#7749var Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh, donated large quantities of gold to have the exterior plated with the metal, but the work made little progress in the troubled times that followed Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh's death. It was in the last quarter of the nineteenth century that part of the exterior was covered with gold leaf by Sant Sh&#257m Si&#7749gh, of Amritsar. Only one of the four towers planned by Ka&#7749var Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh for the four corners of the tank was erected during this time. Under Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh's orders, the town of Tarn T&#257ran was enclosed by a wall. A few other shrines such as the Mañj&#299 S&#257hib, the Ak&#257l Bu&#7749g&#257 and the Gur&#363 k&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#363h were developed and several <i>bu&#7749g&#257s</i> added. After the annexation of the Punjab to the British dominions, the management of the shrines at Tarn T&#257ran, along with those at Amritsar, was entrusted to a Sarbar&#257h or manager appointed by the deputy commissioner of Amritsar. The role of the manager was, however, confined to general supervision, the priests being autonomous in the conduct of religious affairs. They divided the offerings among themselves and gradually appropriated most of the lands endowed to the Darb&#257r S&#257hib during Sikh rule. They neglected their religious duties and cared little for the sanctity of the holy shrines and the <i>sarovar</i>. The traditional monthly congregation on every <i>am&#257vasy&#257</i> day, the last day of the dark half of the month, was reduced to a gay carnival. Reforms introduced by the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257, Tarn T&#257ran, established in 1885, were disapproved and resisted by the clergy. Efforts of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n M&#257jh&#257 and the Central M&#257jh&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n to cleanse the administration met with only partial success. As the Gurdw&#257r&#257 reform movement got under way, the control of the sacred shrines passed to a representative body of the Sikhs, the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee, on 27 January 1921. A leper asylum established by Gur&#363 Arjan, but completely ignored by the clergy after the abrogation of Sikh sovereignty was taken over in 1858 by Christian missionaries.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;DARB&#256R S&#256HIB SR&#298 GUR&#362 ARJAN DEV J&#298 is an elegant three-storeyed structure at the southeastern corner of the <i>sarovar</i>. Approached through a double-storeyed arched gateway, it stands in the middle of a marble-floored platform. The upper portion of the edifice is covered with glittering gold-plated sheets. The lotus dome, damaged in an earthquake (4 April 1905) and subsequently reconstructed has an ornamental gold pinnacle with an umbrella-shaped gold finial. Exquisitely executed stucco work in intricate designs inset with reflecting glass pieces decorates the interior walls and the ceiling. The Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib is seated on a platform under an elongated dome covered with gold-plated metal sheets. This throne was an offering from Ka&#7749var Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh. A relay recital of <i>k&#299rtan</i> goes on from early morning till late in the evening.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;HAR K&#298 PAU&#7770&#298, a flight of marbled steps behind the Darb&#257r S&#257hib descending into the sacred pool, marks the spot where, according to tradition, Gur&#363 Arjan made the first cut as the digging started in 1590. Pilgrims go down these steps to take <i>charan&#257mrit</i> or palmsful of holy water to sip.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;THE SAROVAR, one of the largest of the Sikh holy tanks, is an approximate rectangle in shape. Its northern and southern sides are 289 metres and 283 metres, respectively, and eastern and western sides 230 metres and 233 metres, respectively. The <i>sarovar</i> was originally fed by rain water that flowed in from the surrounding lands. In 1833, Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Raghub&#299r Si&#7749gh of J&#299nd had a water channel dug, connecting the tank with the Lower Kas&#363r Branch of the Upper B&#257r&#299 Do&#257b Canal at Ras&#363lpur water-mills, 5 km to the southeast. The channel was cemented and covered in 1927-28 by Sant Gurmukh Si&#7749gh and Sant S&#257dh&#363 Si&#7749gh. They also supervised <i>k&#257r-sev&#257</i>, i.e. complete desilting of the tank through voluntary service, in 1931. The operation was repeated in 1970 under Sant J&#299v&#257n Si&#7749gh. Most of the <i>bu&#7749g&#257s</i> around the <i>sarovar</i> have now been demolished and a verandah constructed instead along the periphery. The name Tarn T&#257ran, since appropriated by the town itself, originally belonged to the <i>sarovar</i>, so called by Gur&#363 Arjan. Literally it means, " the boat that takes one across (the ocean of existence)". (Tara&#7751a in Sanskrit is a raft or a boat). According to Sikh tradition, the water of the old pond was found to possess medicinal properties, especially efficacious for curing leprosy. For this reason the <i>sarovar</i> was known as D&#363kh Niv&#257ran, the eradicator of affliction.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;AK&#256L BU&#7748G&#256, a four-storeyed building near the Nish&#257n S&#257hib or the Sikh flagpole, was constructed in 1841 by Ka&#7749var Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh. Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Sher Si&#7749gh provided the finishing touches. The Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, after a procession around the <i>sarovar</i> amid chanting of hymns in the late evening, is brought here for the night's rest.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;MAÑJ&#298 S&#256HIB, a small domed shrine in the eastern part of the circumambulatory pavement, marks the spot from where Gur&#363 Arjan used to supervise the excavation of the <i>sarovar</i>. A <i>d&#299v&#257n</i> hall, a vast pavilion of reinforced concrete, has now been raised close to it.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;THE TOWER, the only completed column of the four planned by Ka&#7749var Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh for the beautification of the <i>sarovar</i> at Tarn T&#257ran, stands at the north-eastern corner. The three-storeyed tower, 34-metres high, was erected during the Ka&#7749var's lifetime. The dome on top of it was added later.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GUR&#362 K&#256 KH&#362H, a well constructed by Gur&#363 Arjan is 200-metres to the south of Darb&#257r S&#257hib. During the digging of the tank and continuing up to the middle of the twentieth century, Gur&#363 k&#257 La&#7749gar functioned near here. Gur&#363 Arjan used to relax in a hut near this well, for which reason it is sometimes called Mañj&#299 S&#257hib Gur&#363 k&#257 Kh&#363h. The old Mañj&#299 S&#257hib was replaced by a hall in the early 1980's. A small monument near by marks the site where the bodies of Bh&#257&#299 Haz&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh and Bh&#257&#299 Hukam Si&#7749gh, the first two to fall martyrs in the cause of Gurdw&#257r&#257 reform, were cremated.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Gurdh&#257m Sa&#7749grah</i>. Patiala, n.d<BR> <li class="C1"> Narotam, T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Sr&#299 Guru T&#299rath Sa&#7749grahi</i>. Kankhal, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> &#7788h&#257kar Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Sr&#299 Gurdu&#257re Darshan</i>. Amritsar, 1923<BR> <li class="C1"> Macauliffe, Max Arthur, <i>The Sikh Religion</i>. Oxford, 1909<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Jagj&#299t Si&#7749gh <br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>