Smadhi of Maharaja Jassa Singh Ramgarhia

 

<< ARTICLE MOVED >>

This post by S. Gurdev Singh Rooprai has been moved to his BLOG: http://www.gurdevsingh.in/smadhi-of-maharaja-jassa-singh-ramgarhia/

 

 

The Radcliffe Award

This award, given to India in the form of “Radcliffe Line”, was the most bloody and painful gift ever. The Prime Minister Clement Attlee of the United Kingdom stood in London Parliament on 20th February 1947 and announced:

1. British Government would grant full self-government to British India by June 1948 at the latest,
2. The future of Princely States would be decided after the date of final transfer is decided.

On June 3rd 1947, Lord Mountbatten, then Viceroy of British India proposed the following plan:

1. Principle of Partition of India was accepted by the British Government
2. Successor governments would be given dominion status
3. Implicit right to secede from the British Commonwealth

This plan got Royal Assent from King Geroge VI of England on 18th July 1947 as the “Indian Independence Act 1947”. It was “An Act to make provision for the setting up in India of two independent Dominions, to substitute other provisions for certain provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935, which apply outside those Dominions, and to provide for other matters consequential on or connected with the setting up of those Dominions.”

The Act’s stated that:

• division of British India into the two new and fully sovereign dominions of India and Pakistan, with effect from 15 August 1947;
• partition of the provinces of Bengal and Punjab between the two new countries;
• establishment of the office of Governor-General in each of the two new countries, as representatives of the Crown;
• conferral of complete legislative authority upon the respective Constituent Assemblies of the two new countries;
• termination of British suzerainty over the princely states, with effect from 15 August 1947, and recognized the right of states to accede to either dominion
• abolition of the use of the title “Emperor of India” by the British monarch (this was subsequently executed by King George VI by royal proclamation on 22 June 1948).

The Act also made provision for the division of joint property, etc. between the two new countries, including in particular the division of the armed force.

Following this act, Cyril John Radcliffe, 1st Viscount Radcliffe, a British Law Lord was sent to India on 8th July 1947. He was given just 5 weeks cut India into two parts, based on religion. Two separate boundary commissions were setup, one for Punjab and one for Bengal. Both were chaired by Radcliffe. The Punjab Boundary Commission consisted of Justices Mehr Chand Mahajan, Teja Singh, Din Mohammed and Muhammad Munir. The Bengal Boundary Commission consisted of Justices C. C. Biswas, B. K. Mukherjee, Abu Saleh Mohamed Akram and S. A. Rahman.

He started drawing the bloody line, which is popularly known as the Radcliffe Line. It divided India between the modern day India and the Pakistan (which later split into East and West Pakistan).

Problems & Loopholes in procedure

1. Radcliffe never visited India before this date
2. He couldn’t travel the length and breadth of India during his 5 week stay
3. He kept distance from Lord Mountbatten and other Indian Politicians, who knew India well, in order to stay unbiased (which in-turn proved fatal)
4. There was no outside participant (such as United Nations)
5. There was lack of sufficient survey data and regional demographics
6. Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims were kept in the border commissions, but their internal fight made the decision tougher. Worse, the family (wife & 2 children) of Sikh Judge was killed a few weeks earlier.
7. Britain was in ‘war debt’ and could not afford arranging for adequate resources.
8. Punjab Border Commission was to draw a line right through homeland of Sikhs and Bengal Border Commission was to draw line through Chittagong, home to Buddhists in order to divide India between Hindus and Muslims.
9. Buddhist tribes in Chittagong Hill Tracts had no official representation and were left without any information to prepare for their situation during partition.
10. Line could be drawn only through the British controlled areas, leaving as many as 562 princely states to the hands of their rulers to decide, which side to join. States like Kashmir and Junagadh had ruler from different religion than their majority population, which ended up in major conflicts.
11. Major states like Hyderabad, Jodhpur, Rewa, Gwalior, Jaisalmer, Bahawalpur comprised most of the Indian land and were forced to choose one side.
12. Hindu majority areas like Khulna and Buddhist majority Chittagong Hills were given to Pakistan while Muslim majority Murshidabad and Malda fell in India. Similarly, major Sikh settlements of Lahore, Rawalpindi & Multan went to Pakistan while Muslims rich Gurdaspur, Jalandhar and Ludhiana were given to India.
13. Sindh, from where the name “Hind”, “Hindi” and “Hindustan” is derived, was given to Pakistan leaving as many as 1.4 million Hindus in a stiff. Half of them fled to India.
14. Several important factors were ignored by Radcliffe, which was complained by every party in India.
15. A rough line was drawn on paper, leaving several regions in dilemma. We still have few homes in Bengal, where one room is in India and other in Bangladesh
16. Entire process of division was kept secret and only core committee knew of the draft
17. Partition was declared on 17th August 1947, two days after Independence. Many villages hoisted flag of different countries for 2 days, until the confusion was cleared on 17th. For example, Malda was taken by East Pakistan Administration and Pakistani flag was hoisted, until Indian Administration reached after 4 days with correct documents and replaced the flag.
18. Since Partition was declared after the British handed over control, the responsibility of Law & Order during Migration was left to the hands of newly formed governments, who were still taking account of their security strengths and weaknesses. It took them several months to get law enforcement agencies in place, during which, the mass massacre happened.
19. Only 50,000 security personnel were deployed in Punjab, to protect 14 million migrating individuals. There was less than 1 soldier per square mile.

Aftermaths

1. India had population of 390 Million during partition, out of which 30 million were to fall in East Pakistan and 30 million in West Pakistan.
2. 14 million people were displaced, making it largest mass migration in history
3. As per one estimate, 500,000 were killed
4. 7.2 million Muslims, who reached Pakistan in hope of their ‘own’ country were branded as “Muhajir” (Migrant)
5. Approximately 80,000 women were abducted during movement. Less than 30,000 were recovered by 1954. Much more were raped and killed.
6. Several minor battles were fought to annex the princely states and the regions under control of Portugal. Operations of Hyderabad, Goa, Dadar & Nagar Haveli and Sikkim are prominent.
7. The Hindu ruler of the state of Jammy and Kashmir decided to not to choose any side. However, soon after the partition, the tribal forces from Pakistan invaded Kashmir. Maharaja of Kashmir requested India of protection, at which Lord Mountbatten asked him to sign the Instrument of Accession before any help can be provided. Half heartedly, Raja Hari Singh signed the instrument and Jammu-Kashmir officially became part of India. Soon Indian Forces reached Kashmir to help Kashmiris from invading tribal forces. However, a major portion was already taken and instead of massive bloodshed, Nehru chose UN’s intervention for the peaceful resolution. The matter is still a major reason for conflict between the two countries and is considered as the ground for various wars and cross border terrorism.

The Messalina of the Punjab

Queen Valeria Messalina, Empress Consort of Roman Empire was the notoriously famous wife of Emperor Claudius. British compared the Queen of Punjab with her. Although the queen of Punjab and the Queen of Rome had nothing in common, the informal title given by the British exhibited, how they trapped the Queen and tried to spoil her royal and clean image, so they could rule Punjab.

We are talking about Maharani Jind Kaur (aka Rani Jinda’n aka Rani Jind Kaura’n), daughter of Sardar Manna Singh Aulakh and mother of the last King of Punjab, Maharaja Duleep Singh Sukarchakiya. She was married to Sarkar Khalsaji, Sher-e-Punjab, Maharaja Sardar Ranjit Singh (aged 55) in 1835 at the age of 18 years. Maharaja Ranjit Singh left this mortal world on 27th June 1839 leaving behind the throne of Punjab to his eldest son, Maharaja Kharak Singh. But within 1 month of his coronation, he was taken prisoner and poisoned to death. Then came Kanwar Nau Nihal Singh, his son. He was returning from his father’s cremation and was supposed to be crowned the next day. But the gate he passed through had a big brass and copper chandelier, which fell on him and he died on the spot at the age of 19. Many other such claimants to the throne died mysteriously one by one in a span of few months. The only person left was Duleep Singh, the youngest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Maharani Jind Kaur. In September 1843, at the age of 5, he was crowned and made the Maharaja of Punjab. Being a minor, her mother, Maharani Jind Kaur became the de-facto ruler. She ruled over roughly 4 lakh square kilometre of land, called “Punjab”. Famous Punjabi poet Shah Muhammad writes:

Mahabali Ranjit Singh hoeya paida, naal zor de mulk hilaye gaya,
Multan, Kashmir, Peshawar, Chamba, Jammu, Kangra kot nivaye gaya,
Fir des ladhakh te cheen (china) taayi’n, sikka apne naam da chalaye gaya,
Shah Muhammada jaan 50 barsa, changa rajj ke raaj kamaye gaya.

British were not able to win Punjab. So they decided to sign a treaty with Maharaja Ranjit Singh. According to this treaty, they will keep trade relations with Punjab and provide protection to Punjab. And in case of Maharaja’s demise, his sons will be legal heir. But if there is no heir left, the British will take over. The seed to the conspiracy was set. Maharaja Ranjit Singh himself died in mysterious circumstances.

When Maharaja Duleep Singh acceded the throne, the Anglo-Sikh war broke out. It started as a small mutiny between Sikh forces, which was aired by the British. After the British had bribed some chiefs and nobles in Sikh army, they entered into the battle field. Long story cut short, the end result was that by December 1846, Maharaja Duleep Singh was taken away for hunting and then never returned Lahore. When Maharani Jind Kaur tried to inquire about his son, her brother told her that the British had taken him for hunting. She got little scared by this and tried to get deeper into the matter. Her brother, who was also a noble and loyal to the throne of Punjab told her, “Sister, Duleep has been taken by British. It is possible that you will never see his face again. I couldn’t do anything. They are now coming for you”.

Maharani Jind Kaur got the biggest shock of her life. Her husband had died and her son was taken away. Her own brother and other loyal nobles were not able to protect her and the British were coming to arrest her. She get unconscious and in that state, she was hidden in a ‘Palaki’ and taken away from Lahore Fort. Kaav-Bhooshan Sant Kavi Jeewan Singh ji writes these beautiful lines:

Jaandi Jinda’n nu aayi awaaz arsho’n
Jinda’n parat Lahore tu aawana nahi,
Jehre qile di bani se maharani,
Uss Qile’ch pair murh paawna ni…
Taaj laah de sees to Badshahi,
Hun tu kite Rani akhwaavna nahi

Means: When Jind Kaur was being taken away, she heard someone from heaven. The voice said that you shall now never return to Lahore. You were queen of this fort, but you shall never lay step back in here. You should remove this royal crown from your head, as you shall no longer be called a Queen.

The real torture for her had just began. She must have been cursing herself for not attempting ‘Sati’ with her husband, like other queens of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Today, when she opened her eyes after a long night of unconsciousness, she found herself in a prison. British had imposed serious charges against her and proved in the Sikh Court of Punjab that Maharani Jind Kaur is the mastermind behind the mutiny and which led to financial and life losses. And since she was already kidnapped and imprisoned, she could not appear before the Khalsa Durbar to prove her innocence. Many wazirs of the Khalsa durbar had already sold themselves to the British. Hence, the resolution was passed declaring Queen Jinda’n as guilty. British were waiting for this day. They declared the imprisonment of Jind Kaur. First she was kept under house arrest for 10 days in the Samman Burj of Lahore Fort. Then she was moved to Sheikhupura Fort. Then there were other incidents of Mutiny, which were all blamed on Maharani Jind Kaur in prison. British proved that while she is under tight security and under heavy watch, she is still having contact with her loyal nobles and must be taken away from Punjab so that the region can be in peace. Hence, she was taken to Chunar, 45 Kms away from Varanasi. This fort was used by British for political prisoners and it was said that no one left this fort alive.

By this time, Maharani Jind Kaur was stripped off all her jewellery and valuables. Even the Koh-i-Noor Diamond was taken away from the Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s treasury, which he willed to Jagannath Temple of Odisha. Jind Kaur was living with two of her servants in a small prison room. One night, she dressed herself as a servant and somehow reached the gates of fort. With help of a loyal soldier, she was able to step out of the fort and ran for 3 miles up to the banks of River Ganga. There she left her utensil and an extra cloth to show that she had died swimming in Ganges. Then she proceeded to Varanasi, where according to plan, her other servant, who had escaped few days back was waiting for her. Both of them met in free air after so many years. But now, they were not associated with the royal family. They were both wearing servant cloths. Jind Kaur was hungry. She asked for food, but it was not available. Then she was made to beg for food outside a temple. Kavi Pritam Singh writes:

Main raani desh Punjab di, ajj dekh lo mera haal
Kall moti kardi daan saa’n, ajj rootio’n vi kangaal

Means: I, the queen of Punjab. Look at me now. I used to donate pearls but today, I don’t even have food to eat.

The British had raised an alarm of prisoner escape. Search parties started looking for her. Somehow, these two ladies started running towards Nepal. The king of Nepal, Shri Teen Maharaja, Jung Bahadur Rana used to be in the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh along with his maternal uncle, when he was young. Jind Kaur was sure that Jung Bahadur will definitely help her in this state, when entire India is against her. Going to Nepal, some police agent started following them and when he realized who they are, he reported them to police. But they were able to escape that situation also. Their days started with begging for food and passed walking village to village, hiding and trying to reach Nepal. Their nights were spent under open sky, without any warm cloth. This was the state of one of the most powerful Queen’s of India.

When they reached Himalyas, the policy search parties had closed on them. They tried to hide themselves in a cave, where some sadhu was sitting. The Sadhu asked them who they are, coz they did not looked like locals and their face was nowhere like any beggar. Jind Kaur asked the same thing to this Sadhu, that you also don’t look like a Nepali/Pahadi sadhu. Your face is very much familiar. After some conversation, Jind Kaur decided to tell that Sadhu truth. She said…

“I am Queen Jind Kaur, daughter of Sardar Manna Singh and wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. I have been hiding from the British”

At this, the Sadhu said:

“Raajmata, I am an orderly of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who is hiding as a sadhu in this cave since his death, because the British are trying to hunt me down. I am not in a position to fight for you because of my old age now, but I will do anything to fulfil my duty as your loyal servant.”

That night, the cave was filled with emotions and painful memories of Lahore. Next day morning, these three disguised as Saadhu and Saadhvis and started their journey to Kathmandu. Little far from Kathmandu, the Sadhu got sikh with double pneumonia and died on the spot. Bot these ladies started crying on her body as he was their last hope to reach to Kathmandu. Suddenly, a cavalry unit reached there and asked them what happened. Jind Kaur recognized the soldier’s uniform and told them everything. The soldier were guards of Maharana Jung Bahadur, who was hunting in that forest. When news reached him, he sent for a palaki and Jind Kaur, who was living as a beggar for many months now, once again sat in the royal palaki to reach the tents of Maharana. Though being the Queen of Punjab, she fell in the feet of Maharana and begged for shelter. Maharana Jung Bahadur got very emotional and built her a small refuge-palace next to river Vishnumati. She spent next 11 years in this palace, hiding from the outer world. During this period, she lost her eyesight because of crying.

Meanwhile, Maharaja Duleep Singh had turned into a Christian. When he was taken from Lahore, his hair were cut and packed in a golden box and sent to Queen Victoria, saying that we have removed Sikhs from Punjab and now entire India is ours. He was then put under the care of Dr. John Login, who converted him to Christianity at his exile palace ‘Fatehgarh’. The then Gov. Gen. Lord Dulhousie then sent him to England in 1854. He was exposed to British Literature only and he never read about Punjab. But after 1857’s mutiny, his pension was reduced and several restrictions were imposed on him. He met one person from Surat, who was working in his residence at Reohampton. There he learned about his origin and him being a Sikh. He also learned that he was the rightful heir to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He then planned a journey to Calcutta. He learned that his mother is still alive and some Sikh soldier know where she is. He wrote a letter to her and which reached her after 1 year. When the letter was read to Jind Kaur, she became emotional and asked Maharana Jung Bahadur for permission to meet her son. Rana said that if she leaves Nepal, everyone will come to know that she was hiding here and it will become a risk for him. So she will have to slip away secretly and never to return to Nepal. She agreed and left Nepal forever, to meet her son Duleep Singh in Spence’s hotel in Calcutta.

The day Jind Kaur reached Calcutta, King Duleep Singh was waiting for her. She could not see him because of her lost eyesight but when she placed her hand on her head, she was shocked to learn that he did not have a turban. Moreover, his hair were no longer like Sikhs. Her shock and pain became worse when Duleep took her to Britain, where Queen Victoria ordered her to be kept in a separate exile and not let her son or anyone meet her. She was kept in a small house near Lancaster Gate and denied frequent meetings with her son. Then she was shifted to Mulgrave Castle and later to Abingdon House, Kensington, where she died peacefully on 1st August 1863. Her final wish was:

No British shall touch my body and when I die, my eyes should not be closed because when you close a dead body’s eyes, a drop of waterfalls from eye and I don’t want my tears to fell on this sinful land. And make sure that I am cremated next to my husband in Lahore

Duleep Singh tried very hard to get her body to Lahore. Till 1864, her body was kept in Dissenters’ Chapel in Kensal Green Cemetery. When Duleep got permission, he hurriedly brought the body to Bombay, from where he had arranged for the travel to Lahore for cremation. But when his ship reached the dock, he was handed over the letter from Queen Victoria, stating that he should cremate his mother in Bombay only and return to England immediately. He cremated his mother at Panchvati, near Godavari River. Later, his daughter Princess Bamba visited the place in 1924 and arranged for the remains to be shifted to Lahore as per her last wish. Her remains now rest in Lahore next to her husband. Her son, the last Maharaja of Punjab, died as a Christian in France on 22 October, 1893. Punjab was later divided between Pakistan and India.

A Forgotten Battle for Independence

When India got independence on 15^th August 1947, everyone thanked the great leaders of the country, who fought throughout their lives for this day. On one hand, people were rejoicing with extreme happiness, and on other hand, they were remembering those, whom they lost in this 100 years long battle for independence. The first major protest, which spread nationwide was recorded in 1857, which is now known as the First was of Indian Independence. After British oppressed this mutiny, they got busy in reorganizing the power and ensuring that such incidents are prevented in future. But the spark of freedom had started in every region of India. Some of the revolutions grew bigger and became famous, while most of them died within small paragraphs of history textbooks.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s royal mansion next to Rashtrapati Bhawan has now been converted into a museum. Several rooms in there are filled with stuff related to Nehru and the Indian Independence. In a corner of one such room, the curator cared to put few pictures of those social reformers, who rose around 1857, but were silenced by the British. This article is about one such social reformer, whose contribution to the society has been forgotten with time. He started his protest in 1857, just a month before the famous mutiny broke and was able to fight till 1872, but his followers continued to obey the commandments even to the present day.

The battle of Mudki in Punjab was a major turning point for British and their advance towards North India. A soldier from 12^th battalion of Kanwar Nau Nihal Singh’s regiment (Grandson of Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab), decided to leave his job as a warrior and take the path of peace. But he was also very much disturbed by the fact that how British had played tricks and bribed the Sikh generals to take over Punjab unethically. He came back to his village near Ludhiana and started meditating. A decade later, he decided to restore the status of Sikhs in Punjab. He found out that there is hardly any person left, who is following the true path of Guru Nanak & Guru Gobind. Hence, in April 1857, he baptised his followers and which later came to be known as the Namdharis, or more popularly, the “Kukas”. A month later, the 1857 uprising started but Kukas continued to meditate and live peacefully. They were now obeying the commandments of this reformer, the saint-soldier, Satguru Ram Singh (as commonly referred by his followers).

Seyi net furi aaye, samvat-e bahattre main,
magh sudi panchami, suvere guruvaar ke,
zila ludhiana, graam bhaini naam jaane aam,
avtare Singh Ram, kalam le taar ke,
Jaat Tarkhaan, Jassa naam ke avasse ghar,
sada maat main prakashe naam prachaar ke,
balak hi pan main thhe, ishvar ko mann main thhe,
dhiyavate se gann main thhe, jano ke sudhaar ke

– Panth Prakash, Giani Gian Singh

Translation:

In samvat 72 (read Samvat Bikri 1872), Ram Singh was incarnated, on the Thursday morning of Magh Sudi Panchami (aka Basant Panchmi) in Bhaini Village of District Ludhiana (Punjab). He was born to (Sardar) Jassa (Singh) of Tarkhan (Carpenter) community. He spread the holy name of god in this mortal world. He was a divine soul since childhood, worshiped god from his heart and always prayed for the betterment of everyone.

Baba Ram Singh ji was born on Basant Panchami in village Raiyan near Bhaini in Ludhiana district. After leaving Sikh Army, he settled in Bhaini Village, which also became the birth place of Kuka Movement sometime later. His village is now converted to a huge Gurudwara Complex, where every building marks some historic event. He established the community kitchen and started spreading his message of love and peace from his house. But things changed as the British was spreading their command deeper into villages of Punjab.

Few months before the famous battle of 1857, the Kukas had formed a strong sect. Baba Ram Singh gave them few instructions, from where the “Kuka Movement” started. It also became one of the first boycott movements of India. The commandments clearly stated:

• We will boycott the British governance & Administration
• We will boycott the British products
• No one will ever drink English tea, as it was introduced by the British
• No one should wear English cloths. Only home-spun white kurta-payjama should be worn
• No one will use refined sugar from mills setup by British. We shall continue to use jaggery and sugarcane juice
• No one will use the water of canals established by British. Use water from wells, which community has dug up
• No one will stand in the shade of trees, that British planted
• We will not use public transport started by the British
• The British postal System should be boycotted

With the above commandments, Kukas established a parallel administration. They had 22 Subas (heads) across 22 zones of Punjab. They started their own transport and postal system. Many Kukas don’t drink tea even till date. They are distinguished by their white cotton/khadi Kurta Payjama and round turban. They also abolished ill practices like Dowry and abandonment of widows. Kukas practice mass-marriages and believe in widow remarriage and are very strictly against dowry.

After the war of 1857, British went back to their thinking desks and started working on a better plan to rule India. They found that this outbreak was due to religious sentiments. The only way to ensure that no such thing happens again is to break the religious backbone of the people of India. The infamous “Divide and Rule” policy of British was tested to its extreme. One major decision taken during this course was to remove the copper plates from Amritsar, which read “Cows are not to be killed in Amritsar. The penalty of killing cow is death”. After removing these plates, a cow-slaughter house was approved in Amritsar, right next to the holy shrine of Sikhs, the Golden Temple. Similar slaughter houses came up in other areas of Punjab as well. The Kuka movement shook the British to an extend but was supressed after a series of incidents at Amritsar, Malerkotla and Raikot, where small batches of Kukas decided to go violent and take revenge on the slaughterhouses, which were butchering cows right next to the religious shrines. British took these incidents as an excuse and arrested Baba Ram Singh. He was sent to various prisons in India before finally being exiled to Burma, from where he never returned. He was kept in the same building, where Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor of India spent his last days. I earlier wrote an article about this Prison Palace of the Last Mughal. In coming days, I shall write about the episodes of Malerkotla and Amritsar, where Kukas went to massacre butchers and destroy slaughterhouses, after which they surrender themselves in courts and not only accepted capital punishments, but also went to fulfil the death penalties without any assistance. The village of Bhaini Sahib was converted into a Jail. The village earlier had a wall around it and there was only one gate to enter the village. The gate was sealed for over a decade and only a handful of people were allowed to go in or come out on a given day. Heavy checking at the entry made life of villagers very difficult and there was a time, when there was no food left and no material was allowed by the British inside the walls. In coming days, I shall write about these incidents in detail.

 

Takht Sri Kesgarh, Anadpur

I love this place…

I am talking about the holy place, where Khalsa commune was born in 1699. 10th spiritual master of sikhs turned entire sikh community to Khalsa, which was a warrior commune. Today, there stands the mighty takht, called Gurudwara Sri Kesgarh Sahib.

Anadpur City is called the White City. It is a very nice place to visit in Punjab, India. Festival of Baisakhi is very popular in north India. It was the baisakhi of 1699 AD, when 10th Guru, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Jee formed the khalsa by baptizing 5 of his disciples. The city of Anandpur was founded by Guru Gobind Singh Jee’s father, the 9th Guru of Sikhs, Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Jee in 1665. The land was purchased by guru jee on May 13th, 1665, guru purchased this land from the queen of bilaspur, Rani Champa on a payment of Rupees 500. Soon, Baba Gurditta Jee, whose gurudwara is also nearby, helped raise this village, which at that time was known as chakk nanki (on name of mother of guru nanak). Later this place was known as Anadpur Sahib.

You can find several gurudwaras in here. And there is one fort, known as Qila Anandgarh Sahib. This is very solid fortification on a hill top, that is safe from enemy. This place saw many valor combats. A very famous episode of Bhai Ghannaiya Jee also happened nearby. Bhai Ghannaiya Jee offered water to enemy soldiers who were dying of thirst in battle field. When he was reported to gurujee, Bhai Ghannaiya said “Oh lord, I can’t make a difference between our soldiers and enemies because for me, everyone is all mighty’s child and I see your face in everyone”. Guru Jee was very happy with this and rewarded him.

This is the main complex, the Takht Kesgarh Sahib gurudwara, where Khalsa was born in 1699. Inside gurudwara, you will find all weapons of Guru Gobind Singh Jee, and the Ranjit Nagara, the largest drum that was used in war days.

In 1999, when sikhim celebrated 300 years of formation of khalsa, almost every sikh from around the world reached kesgarh. I also went there in form of a procession. All the namdharis reached at kesgarh in cars, jeeps, busses, bikes or whatever moe they found. We were covering entire road in white color and there were thousands of us. Our huge fleet was welcomed with song…

“Jee Ayan Nu, Jee Ayan Nu, Guru Gobind Singh De Jaiyan Nu”

Means, welcome, oh sons of guru gobind singh.

Hola mahallah of Anadpur Sahib is most famous. The festival of holi (Holla Mahalla) is celebrated with a difference in here. You can see Nihung Warriors gathering from all over country and showing their martial art and fighting skills. You can see warriors riding many horses at a time, or fighting with dozens of soldiers alone.

And how can I miss the beautiful view of Naina Devi Temple from gurudwara. In night, you can see lights of Naina Devi temple from this gurudwara, which in itself is a mesmerizing feel. A little ahead of Anadpur, the is Nangal Barriage, which is a part of Bhakhra Nangal Project. Entire area is green and so silent and peaceful, that it will almost hypnotize you.

Don’t miss this place.