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Sikh Shrines in Jammu and Kashmir Jasbir Singh Sarna

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Sikh Shrines in Jammu and Kashmir Jasbir Singh Sarna SIKH SHRINES IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR JASBIR SINGH SARNA Diaitize ’aniab Digital Library I www.DaniabdiaUib.org COP Y RIGHT © Guru Nanak Institute Of Sikh Studies Denmark All rights reserved First Edition, June 1994 ~ i i Price: US $ 5-00 ■ *' *■ - I ¥ . I *P, C I '■ 11 i ■: •." A Rs. 40 " - k c GURMA.T FARCHAR Rs. Published by : Dr. Awatar Singh Sekhon Ph.D. (Alberta), FIBA, RM (CCM) FOR V Guru Nanak Institute of Sikh Studies, Denmark & The Sikh Educational Trust,Edmonton, Canada. / Printed by : Alpha Beta computers Mohali Chandigarh. To The sacred memory of My Beloved Father Giani Sant Singh Bhatpuri. Kashmir By the same author 1. Shabad nama (Poetry ) 2. Mano de deo (Poetry) 3. Preeti bimb (Poetry) 4. Kesir da phull (Essays ) 5. Sikhs in Kashmir (History ) 6. Flora and Fauna in Guru Nanak’s Bani (Religious) 7. Sachh de katie (Poetry) 8. Sikh Chintan (Essays) 9. History of Sikh students Federation (History) 10. Jujhar nama (Forthcoming) 11. International Bibliography of Sikh Literature (Forthcoming) 12. Kashmir de jungli phull (Forthcoming) ^Dj^Ttjze^^fanJab Digital Library / www.panjabdigUib.org CONTENTS Introduction : 3 About the author : 3 Foreword • ^ o Preface 1 Guru Nanak’s visit to Kashmir : 9 2 Guru HarGobind’s visit to Kashmir : H 3 Guru'Har Rai’s visit to Kashmir : 12 4 Gurdwara Pathar Sahib Leh : 14 5 Gurdwara Nanaksar Mattan. : 14 6 Gurdwara Nanak Asthan Anantnag ’• 15 7 Gurdwara Shahji Marg Pulwama : 16 8 Gurdwara Chhavien Patshahi Srinagar : 17 9 Gurdwara Chhavien Patshahi BaramuUa : 18 10 Gurdwara Tharra Sahib Kalimpura • I9 11 Gurdwara Chhavien Patshahi Param pilian (Uri) : 20 12 Gurdwara Chhavien Patshahi Kathie • 21 13 Gurdwara Chhavien Patshahi Nulchi • 22 14 Gurdwara Nangali Sahib Poonch • 22 15 Dera Baba Banda Singh Bahadur (Reasi) *• 23 16 Appendix A-Extract from The Chinar’ : 24 Appendix B- Genealogy of Hakim Rai • 23 Appendix C - Extract from The Divine Master’ : 25 t Appendix D- Extract from Travels in Kashmir & Punjab’ • 26 Appendix E- Successors of Banda Singh Bahadur : 27 17 Bibliography 31 DigitizedM Paniah D in iM Library I www.oaniabdiaUib.ora t s * # 1 ■ *' : ^ > '1 ':-■?*#*'*& B^ 5 ^ b o £?n? I I H indfim ’«i) kji/fjtA [v > - ■: ,. *' -■ - ■j- nit. ^ ------ ’■■ J X '- , aTB&-4 J; 1^ 1 t^rifc,,:' ^ "'•fSffltr fi'Atiwtl O T K ^ S g ii'f ' ,■ ■ ]■] > ■ % * * ilfrl tfTU'J " * f :’ i 1 ’V tfTIMrfmfO l) -|ppp™ il5^fl1Wh,j; Lx ■■'■■ jni.wbiijJj * r ;j ^ j ^ 11 D fj CMfe or ■-■■ a S flU)ni- *Hp ^ M B E R * ^ ^iOtfri^au ~: ^ . > j i ■_ j > £j[ t * 5 ^ ■ui-j®i-‘ ^luvLiu^) ?Jm ff*~ : ■’ ■ ' v m a p ii||^M -i (LJjfi .-a/J rfi rft fUtestoOT ei uwLnu IJ H . o f " i r f s r r . t f i,liflbfl fcdua'M^vl 51' L«i * v ini rf _r -jdT' jaml, ubofffif'. ill ?fcS rnNkH Ito. '-I r_-.L 'vj}?.&lA w r« a hi .- .i r .■ fljii-Tj* "■■ 0 .. “,■ j. Q S^A j^- . iinid^Jl^n-^JvybiT 1 * wbul►;R it^aJ^fifcucU loTS^^ii^idgi; X ■ -.- ■■■. INTRODUCTION Guru Nanak Sahib (1469-1539 C.E.) founded the most oecumenical and unique modern religion called Sikhism. Sikhism is the latest religion to emerge on the World scene. Ten Sikh Gurus nurtured it. Its teachings are enshrined in the Adi Granth, which is revered as The Guru Eternal. It preaches the oneness of God and universal brotherhood of man. A Sikh is a man or woman who believes in the one Immortal Being, the ten Gurus, the Adi Granth, the word and teachings of the Gurus, the tenth Guru’s Amrit (initiation) and who does not believe in any other religion. According to the 1981 census Sikhs constituted 1.96% of the total population in India. There were 13.08 million Sikhs scattered all over the world with 78.8 % of them being in Punjab. In Jammu and Kashmir, they are only 1.1 % and rest in other states. Many Sikhs have settled in U.K., U.S.A., Canada and other South East Asian, European and African countries. Inspite of being in such small numbers, the Sikhs, with their con­ spicuous appearance with unshorn hair and turban, on top of their courage, gallantry, fearlessness and industry have earned a place for themselves in the world. The teachings of Sikh Guru’s have a universal appeal spiritually and ethically and have influenced the life, thinking and conduct of millions throughout the globe. Gurdwara is the name given to a Sikh shrine. Literally it means the gateway to the Guru, which implies the Adi Granth. A Gurdwara is a centre of congregational worship and propagation of Sikhism. Katha and Kirtan are the main pillars in congregational worship. To every Gurdwara is invariably attached a sacred kitchen called Langar. Gurdwara is open to all regardless of age, sex, caste or creed. Gurdwara is known from a distance by a Nishan Sahib-the Sikh standard. Gurdwara also plays socio-economic role in the Sikh community. The important Sikh shrines or Gurdwaras are those which are as­ sociated with the lives of the Sikh Gurus. The pilgrims visit these shrines in large numbers and a message of love, peace, devotion to God, social justice, religious tolerance and universal brotherhood of man is being preached day in and day out. They are great centres of Sikh culture too. The present work at hand gives the informative account of most important Sikh shrines in Jammu and Kashmir. Due to unavoidable reasons photographs of Gurdwaras could not be coupled in this edition . 3 DiqitizecMj^anial^TqTta^bw I hope that the book will be a useful possession of all those who are interested to know about the Sikh shrines of the State. I shall remain ever indebted to international Sikh scholars Dr Har- jinder Singh Dilgeer of Guru Nanak Institute of Sikh Studies Denmark and Dr Awatar Singh Sekhon of the Sikh Educational Trust, Edmonton,Canada. I remain beholden to Dr. Darshan Singh and Dr Madanjit Kaur for their valuable suggestions. I express my heart-felt gratitude to Dr. Kharak Singh, Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh for helpful Suggestions and the help rendered from time to time in this work. At the end, lines of Dr. Iqbal, somehow come to my mind. “Khwab se bedar hota hai agar mehkum to Phir sula deti hai usko hukamran ki sehri." Jasbir Singh Sarna Near Super Bazar Baramulla -193101 Kashmir.. When ever a subject Nation stand awakened to its rights and struggles to attain them, the adroit sorcery of the rulers manages to lull it to sleep again 4 hv P* ™ h ni" ^ ' tih a,v' ~aniabdiaUib.ora ABOUT THE AUTHOR It pleases me to say a few words about the young scholar Sirdar Jasbir Singh Sarna. Sirdar Sarna has several books to his credit. Besides, he has written research articles too. These articles have been published in international re­ search Journals. Sarna is a well known name to the students and scholars of Sikh studies. I have read his books and articles. Sirdar Jasbir Singh is a serious student of Sikh studies. He has a passion to learn more and more. This has been exhibited by his latest contribution to Sikh studies. Sirdar Jasbir Singh is an expert on Sikhs in Kashmir. His work about Sikhs and Sikh personalities of Kashmir is a unique work in the field. The present Volume, though small in size, is a remarkable work of history. It is on the patterns of research on Guru Nanak Sahib’s Travels by Dr. Fauja Singh and Dr. Surinder Singh Kohli. Sirdar Jasbir Singh Sarna has spared no efforts to trace the possible material on the subject. It is really a valuable document and has archival value too. Sirdar Jasbir Singh Sarna has great potential to present serious scholar­ ly work. We have high hopes from him. The students and the scholars of Sikh studies shall always remain grateful to Sirdar Jasbir Singh for this precious document. Guru Nanak Institute of Sikh Studies has chosen to publish this book because of its archival value. We hope the intelligentia will welcome it. May WaheGuru bless Sirdar Jasbir Singh. Dr. Harjinder Singh Dilgeer Prof, of Sikh Studies Guru Nanak Institute of Sikh Studies, DENMARK. 5 Diqitizecnj^anjat^iqTta FOREWORD Gurdwara [Sikh Shrine] means the way to the Guru. Guru and God are synonymous in Sikhism. Therefore, Gurdwara means the way to God. A Sangat [Congregation] when assembled in a Gurdwara is known, in Sikhism, as a manifestation of Guru/God. Therefore, participation in Sangat means seeking the union with Guru/God, the universal spirit. This again means emancipation from the internal as well as external shackels of slavery. Broadly speaking, participation in Sangat in tunes one with God and thus liberates an individual while living a day-to-day life. The Sikh Gurus travelled long journey to re-ach distant places in order to establish direct communication with people of different faiths and their leaders. They personally discussed the different problems which were heing faced by the people and also devised ways and means to seek redemption for them. For this purpose, wherever they went, they established a shrine named Dharam Sal [place for meriting religion, now known as Gurdwara] themselves and thus, provided a central place for the people to collect in the form of Sangat and reflect upon their problems, spiritual as well as empirical, collectively and find out ways to solve them. Thus, Sikh shrines even during the time of the Sikh Gurus became the centres for evolving a collective will to awaken people’s consciousness and to face the difficulties in life.
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