Amrtisar of the South - Gurudwara Nanak Jhira Sahib




The historic city of Bidar has more to offer apart from the tombs. madrasas and ramparts. The beautiful Gurudwara in Bidar is a major pilgrimage center for Sikhs.

History -The Udasis of Guru Nanak 

Guru Nanak traveled far and wide to spread the holy message of peace and compassion to all of mankind. He undertook several long journeys on his sacred mission. These journeys are called Udasis.



The founder Sikh Guru is believed to have travelled more than 28,000 Kms in five major tours of the world during the period from 1500 to 1524. The record for the most traveled person on foot is held by Ibn Battuta of Morocco.
According to the Puratan Janamsakhi, which is one of the oldest accounts of the life history of Guru Nanak, Guru Ji undertook five missionary journeys (udasiya) to the far away places of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Mecca, Baghdad, Kamroop (Assam), Tashkand and many more. Guru ji travelled far and wide to spread the word of Gurbani and covered most of India, present day Bangladesh, Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, South West China, Afganistan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.



He travelled on foot with his Muslim companion named Bhai Mardana, a minstrel. His travels are called Udasis. In his first Udasi (travel), Guru Nanak covered east of India and returned home after spending about 6 years.
During his second Udasi (second missionary tour) of South India, Guru Nanak after sojourning through Nagpur and Khandwa visited the ancient Hindu Temple of Om Kareswar on the Narmada and reached the outskirts of Bidar - (around 1512 AD).


Nearby were huts of Muslim fakirs, who took keen interest in the sermons and teachings of the great Guru. The news soon spread throughout Bidar and its surrounding areas about the holy Saint of the North and large number of people started coming to him to have his "Darshan" and seek his blessings. There used to be acute shortage of drinking water in Bidar. All efforts of the people to dig wells were of no avail. Even when wells produced water the water was found to be unfit for drinking.

The Guru was greatly moved by the miserable condition of the people. With divine name on his lips and the mercy in his heart he touched the hillside with his toe and removed some rubble from the place. To the utter surprise of all, a fountain of sweet, cool water gushed out of the hillside. The place soon came to be known as 'Nanak-Jhira'.



A beautiful Gurdwara has now been constructed by the side of the fountain. The water of the fountain is collected in a small 'Amrit-Khud' built in white marble. There is a free kitchen (guru ka langar) where free food is given to pilgrims 24 hours night and day. A Sikh museum has been built in the memory of Guru Tegh Bahadur, depicting the important events of Sikh history through pictures and paintings. The birthday of Guru Nanak and the Hola Mohalla festival attract large numbers of devotees from all over India.


At the spot where the spring originated, the management had an Amrit Kund built with the contributions of devotees. With the water channeled into a sarovar close by, the devotees now take dips in the sacred water which is thought to cure several ailments.


The Gurudwara - built in 1948 - now attracts several nillion pilgrims every year.
There is a lot of beautification and construction going on to improve the facilities for pilgrims. A huge hostel complex is coming up and also bigger langar.


This is a must-see pilgrimage center for all. The Sikh community has set up a useful and comprehensive website - they term it as the 'Encyclomedia of Sikhs' - where one can find all about the various Gurudwaras and historic places. You can check out the site here:

SikhiWiki

Major portions of the text content in this post was sourced from the above mentioned website.

OH! I forgot to mention the colorful fountain at the Gurudwara Complex :-)



Location: Bidar, Karnataka, India

Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 2, 2017 at 2:19 PM

    nice post about "Amrtisar of the South - Gurudwara Nanak Jhira Sahib"

    Thanks,

    Projector on Hire in Delhi NCR

    ReplyDelete

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