ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>V&#256R&#256&#7750AS&#298 (25º-20'N, 82º-58'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="VRFAS*"> <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">&#65279V&#256R&#256&#7750AS&#298 (25º-20'N, 82º-58'E), the holiest place of Hindu pilgrimage, has since ancient times, been one of the most important centres of Sanskrit learning. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh sent five of his Sikhs to V&#257r&#257&#7751as&#299 to study Sanskrit, and following them several centres for the study of Sanskrit and theology were established by Nirmal&#257 Sikhs. Thus there are many places of historical importance for the Sikhs in this holy city.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 BA&#7770&#298 SA&#7748GAT SR&#298 GUR&#362 TE<u>GH</u> BAH&#256DUR, N&#298CH&#298 B&#256GH. Probably since the visit of Gur&#363 N&#257nak but certainly since the time of Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s, a Sikh <i>sa&#7749gat</i> had been in existence in V&#257r&#257&#7751as&#299. When Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur came here in 1666, he was received by the <i>sa&#7749gat</i> led by Bh&#257&#299 Javehar&#299 Mall, the local Sikh minister. The Gur&#363 was put up in the house of Bh&#257&#299 Kaly&#257n Mall, the site of the present Gurdw&#257r&#257 Ba&#7771&#299 Sa&#7749gat where he is said to have stayed for several months. Bh&#257&#299 Gurba<u>kh</u>sh, the <i>masand</i> at Jaunpur, came with his <i>sa&#7749gat</i> to offer obeisance. Bh&#257&#299 Gurba<u>kh</u>sh, a practised musician, pleased the Gur&#363 with his melodious <i>k&#299rtan</i> and gave Bh&#257&#299 Gurba<u>kh</u>sh a <i>m&#7771da&#7749g</i> (a drum) as a mark of his appreciation and blessing.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;When he was not preaching or meeting his devotees and visitors, Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur meditated in a room still kept apart as his Tap Asth&#257n. Once, it is said, Bh&#257&#299 Kaly&#257n Mall came to the Gur&#363's Tap Asth&#257n early in the morning and invited him to a dip in the holy Ga&#7749g&#257, that being an auspicious day of the month. The Gur&#363, as the tradition goes, asked him to lift a stone lying near by. Immediately, a spring of river water gushed forth. The spring is still preserved in the form of a narrow well, called B&#257ol&#299 Ga&#7749g&#257 Pargat, inside the main hall of the Gurdw&#257r&#257, and its water is used for drinking. People believe in its curative properties. In the Gurdw&#257r&#257 are preserved two cloaks (<i>chol&#257s</i>) and a pair of shoes belonging to the Gur&#363. The shoes have since decayed with only the soles left.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh also visited this shrine in 1670 when as a child he was being escorted from Pa&#7789n&#257 to the Punjab. A pair of his shoes is also preserved here as a relic. The Ba&#7771&#299 Sa&#7749gat at V&#257r&#257&#7751as&#299 remained an important Sikh centre. Seventeen <i>hukamn&#257m&#257s</i> of Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur, Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh and M&#257t&#257 S&#257hib Dev&#257&#7749 addressed to the Sa&#7749gat are preserved in the Gurdw&#257r&#257.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;SHRI CHETAN MA&#7788H, located in Bishveshvargañj, popularly known as Bisesargañj, is another site of historical importance. This is the place where the five Sikhs sent by Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh to study Sanskrit had stayed and which became in due course a centre of the Nirmal&#257 Sikhs. The centre now functions as Shri Gur&#363 N&#257nak Nirmal Sanskrit Vidy&#257laya, affiliated to the Sanskrit University. The Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib is installed in a portion of the building and is studied by those interested, but such study does not form a part of the school curriculum. Most of the scholars hail from Nepal.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 CHHO&#7788I SA&#7748GAT, commemorates an old Sikh <i>sa&#7749gat</i> in V&#257r&#257&#7751as&#299 visited both by Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur and Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh. The building is privately owned and is crowded by families to whom the different rooms are let out on hire. A room on the first floor is set apart for the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, with a Nirmal&#257 s&#257dhu as the custodian. Among the several large-sized old paintings in glowing colours and heavy frames depicting scenes from Hindu mythology is a portraiit of Gur&#363 N&#257nak with B&#257l&#257 sitting on one side of him and Mard&#257n&#257 on the other. B&#257l&#257 is shown beardless with a high peaked cap, but Mard&#257n&#257 is dressed like a Mu<u>gh</u>al prince with a plumed turban, though he is not without his rebeck. The Gurdw&#257r&#257 possesses an old hand-written copy of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib transcribed in Ph&#257gun 1833 Bk/ February 1777.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 GUR&#362 B&#256<u>GH</u> commemorates the visit of Gur&#363 N&#257nak to V&#257r&#257&#7751as&#299 at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The occasion was the &#346ivar&#257tr&#299 of 1563 Bk, which fell in February 1507. Gur&#363 N&#257nak&#8217s apparel which was neither of a householder nor of a hermit attracted notice. One of the leading Pa&#7751&#7693its, Chatur D&#257s, came and began to question him, "What faith do you profess? You carry no S&#257ligr&#257m, the devotee's stone, nor do you wear the necklace of Tuls&#299, the holy basil. You have no rosary and no mark of white clay upon your forehead. What devotion you have attached yourself to?" Gur&#363 N&#257nak asked Mard&#257n&#257 to play the rebeck and recited the hymn : "Let God's Name be the S&#257ligr&#257m thou adorest and good deeds the basil-wreath round thy neck. Seek divine grace and let this be thy raft's anchor. Why waste thy time watering barren land and plastering walls built on sand? Let good deeds be the string of vessels to draw water from the well and yoke thy mind to the wheel. Distil the nectar and irrigate with it the land. Then wilt thou be owned by the Gardener." Chatur D&#257s was proud of his learning and invited the Gur&#363 to stay in V&#257r&#257&#7751as&#299 and master the various branches of knowledge. Gur&#363 N&#257nak said that for him only one word was of real account and that was the God's Name. He reckoned him truly learned who remembered Him and engaged himself in the service of others.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The b&#257<u>gh</u> (garden) where this colloquy took place is no longer in existence. However, Gurdw&#257r&#257 Gur&#363 b&#257<u>gh</u> marks the site. The construction of the present building was inaugurated on 23 November 1969, on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Gur&#363 N&#257nak&#8217s birth. The vast rectangular <i>d&#299v&#257n</i> hall has an elegant little porch at the entrance and a 5-metre wide gallery at mid-height on three sides. There are 14 small rooms for use as office and residence for staff and pilgrims. One of these rooms in the building houses a Library named after Gur&#363 N&#257nak. In an adjacent campus is a girls college called Gur&#363 N&#257nak <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 B&#257lik&#257 Inter College, Gur&#363 B&#257<u>gh</u> The management of the Gurdw&#257r&#257 is in the hands of a local committee.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;SA&#7748GAT M&#298R GH&#256&#7788 is situated near Vish&#257laksh&#299 Temple on the bank of the Ga&#7749g&#257. The spot is sacred to both Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur and Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh. The building consists of a hall with several small rooms attached and a triangular stone-paved compound in front overlooking the river. At present it is used by Ud&#257s&#299 students whose main school, Ud&#257s&#299n Sanskrit Vidy&#257laya, is located at some distance from this site. The Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib is seated in the hall on the raised platform.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;NIRMAL SA&#7748GAT LAHOR&#298 &#7788OL&#256, since redesignated Nirmal Sanskrit Vidy&#257laya, Nirmal Sa&#7749gat, Lahor&#299 &#7788ol&#257, located in the interior of the city near the famous Vishveshwarn&#257th Temple, is another old <i>sa&#7749gat</i> established and maintained by Sikhs of the Nirmal&#257 sect. The building of the Nirmal Sa&#7749gat was originally a <i>mandir</i> acquired by the Nirmal&#257 Sikhs in 1887 circa. The Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib is seated on the first floor. 'The institution is affiliated to the Samp&#363ra&#7751&#257nand Sanskrit Vishvavidy&#257laya. The present <i>mahant</i> is Gurdip Si&#7749gh Kesar&#299, a prominent Nirmal&#257 scholar of Punjabi origin.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Narotam, T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Sr&#299 Gur&#363 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"> 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"> Fauj&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur : Y&#257tr&#257 Asth&#257n, Parampar&#257v&#257&#7749 te Y&#257d Chinh</i>. Patiala, 1976<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>Guru Tegh Bahadur</i>. Delhi, 1993<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>