Kartarpur: Abode of The Guru
Article and Photos by AMARJIT SINGH CHANDAN
KARTĀRPUR - literally meaning the 'Abode of the Creator' - village on the right bank of the River Rāvī in the present Siālkoṭ district of West Punjab and usually called Kartārpur Rāvī to distinguish it from another town of the same name in Jalandhar district of East Punjab, is sacred to the Gurū of Gurūs, Baba Nānak (1469-1539) to whom it owed its origin and who settled here at the end of his long peregrinations on the subcontinent and abroad to preach the Word of God.
Gurū Nanak spent the last 16 years of his life with his wife and sons at Kartārpur which became the principal seat of the Sikh faith. It was here that the Guru wrote the Japji and made his living by farming. It was here that Bhai Lehṇa, later Guru Aṅgad, came to receive instruction and it was here that, after nominating Aṅgad his spiritual successor, he passed away on
***ū vādī 10, 1596 Bkirami - 7 September 1539 AD.
The three-storeyed building of the Gurdwārā erected later at Kartārpur in the late 1920s by the Maharaja of Patiala can still be seen from the high embankment near Narowal marking the Indo-Pakistan border north of Ḍera Baba Nanak.
After Partition, it remained derelict for many years. Since 1995, however, when the Government of Pakistan refurbished it, it has become accessible to visitors and pilgrims from all over the world.
Legend has it that when Guru Nanak left for his heavenly abode, both Hindus and Muslims claimed him as their prophet. As a compromise, his shroud was torn into two: the Muslims buried their half of the shroud, and the Hindus cremated their half - as per their respective religious rites.
The mazār (grave) is in the courtyard of the gurdwara and the samādhi is within.
The well said to be used to irrigate Guru's farm is still kept intact though marble-ized like almost all the Sikh shrines in both East and West Punjab.
Surprisingly the structure above the well is imaginatively designed with a roofless canopy symbolizing the infinite.
[The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism.]
July 10, 2010
Article and Photos by AMARJIT SINGH CHANDAN
KARTĀRPUR - literally meaning the 'Abode of the Creator' - village on the right bank of the River Rāvī in the present Siālkoṭ district of West Punjab and usually called Kartārpur Rāvī to distinguish it from another town of the same name in Jalandhar district of East Punjab, is sacred to the Gurū of Gurūs, Baba Nānak (1469-1539) to whom it owed its origin and who settled here at the end of his long peregrinations on the subcontinent and abroad to preach the Word of God.
Gurū Nanak spent the last 16 years of his life with his wife and sons at Kartārpur which became the principal seat of the Sikh faith. It was here that the Guru wrote the Japji and made his living by farming. It was here that Bhai Lehṇa, later Guru Aṅgad, came to receive instruction and it was here that, after nominating Aṅgad his spiritual successor, he passed away on
***ū vādī 10, 1596 Bkirami - 7 September 1539 AD.
The three-storeyed building of the Gurdwārā erected later at Kartārpur in the late 1920s by the Maharaja of Patiala can still be seen from the high embankment near Narowal marking the Indo-Pakistan border north of Ḍera Baba Nanak.
After Partition, it remained derelict for many years. Since 1995, however, when the Government of Pakistan refurbished it, it has become accessible to visitors and pilgrims from all over the world.
Legend has it that when Guru Nanak left for his heavenly abode, both Hindus and Muslims claimed him as their prophet. As a compromise, his shroud was torn into two: the Muslims buried their half of the shroud, and the Hindus cremated their half - as per their respective religious rites.
The mazār (grave) is in the courtyard of the gurdwara and the samādhi is within.
The well said to be used to irrigate Guru's farm is still kept intact though marble-ized like almost all the Sikh shrines in both East and West Punjab.
Surprisingly the structure above the well is imaginatively designed with a roofless canopy symbolizing the infinite.
[The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism.]
July 10, 2010
