HARDWAR (HARI-DWARA)

Discover the rich heritage of Narayana, key center of the Dadupanthi sect, half a km from Naraina railway station. Explore its spiritual legacy today.

MUKARRAMPUR. locally called Makaroripur, is 14 km from Sirhind (SOWN, 76°23`E). The village has five different historical shrines. GURDWARA PATSHAHI CHHEVIN, NAUMI ATE DASVIN is the principal Sikh shrine of Mukarrampur. The site is sacred to three of the Gurus. According to local tradition Guru Tegh Bahadur was here on the fullmoon day ofHar 1732 Bk which corresponds to 28 June 1675. Guru Gobind Singh is also believed to have stayed here for two days when, as a child, he was being escorted from Patna to Anandpur. Guru Hargobind, too, is said to have visited the village in the course of a journey through this part of the countryside. The present building was constructed during the 1940`s. Standing on a high plinth, it comprises a square hall, with a domed sanctum in the centre and a verandah around it. The Gurdwara is managed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee through a local committee which looks after other shrines in the village as well. Special divans take place on every fullmoon day. The major festival of the year is held on the fullmoon day in the month of Har. GURDWARA SAHIB PATSHAHI 9 is situated inside the village. It is said that, while Guru Tegh Bahadur was staying under a ber tree outside the village, a couple, Mat Mari and her husband Rup Chand, supplicated him to visit their humble dwelling. The Guru granted their wish. This Gurdwara marks the site of the couple`s house. The present building, constructed in 1975, has a domed square sanctum, within a rectangular hall. GURDWARA PAHILl PATSHAHI, a mound called Isarkhel Theh, about one kilometre from the village, marks the site where Guru Nanak is said to have once stayed. The present building constructed in the early 1970`s, within a walled compound, has a square hall, with the sanctum in the middle of it. BUNGA SAHIB and SHAHiD GANJ. Both these shrines, inside the village, are connected with Banda Singh Bahadur`s attack on Sirhind in 1710. The main battle was fought at Chappar Chin, near presentday Chandigarh, but, as the Sikhs pressed on towards Sirhind, the retreating imperial troops put up some resis tance at Mukarrampur. The Mughal force was defeated, but several Sikhs fell in the action. A memorial was raised in their honour inside the village. This has since been replaced by the present Shahid Garij, a small domed square room in which the Guru Granth Sahib is seated. The Buriga Sahib, on the outskirts of the village, is of recent construction and is dedicated to Baba Banda Singh Bahadur. It consists of a single domed square room, in which the Guru Granth Sahib is seated on a low platform.

MEHRAJ, also spoken as Mahiraj or Marhaj, is a village 6 km northwest of Rampura Phul (30°16`N, 75°14`E) in Bathinda district founded in 1627 by Bhai Mohan (d. 1630), aJatt of the Siddhu clan, with the blessings and help of Guru Hargobind. According to Sikh tradition, Mohan with his tribe wanted to settle down in this area but the Bhullars, the local dominating tribe, resisted. Mohan sought Guru Hargobind`s blessing and succeeded in founding a village which he called Mehraj after the name of his greatgrandfather. The Bhullars tried to dislodge him, but were driven away with Guru Hargobind`s help. In the battle Guru Hargobind had to fight here against an imperial force led by Lalla Beg on 16 December 1634, he took up position around a pool of water about 3 km south of Mehraj. Sikhs, though vastly outnumbered, defeated the attacking force. Lalla Beg and several of his officers and men were killed. Guru Hargobind had them buried according to Muslim rites while he had the Sikhs fallen in action cremated. A tower subsequently raised indicates the sites where cremation and burial took place. GURDWARA CHHOTA GURUSAR TAMBU SAHIB, one kilometre southwest of the village, marks the site where Guru Hargobind had his tent (tambu, in Punjabi) set up at the time of his first visit to this place. It is a modestlooking shrine built on a low mound and managed by the village sangat. GURDWARA GURUSAR MEHRAJ marks the site Of Guru Hargobind`s camp during the battle of Mehraj. According to Cur Bilds Chhevm Pdtshdhi, Guru Hargobind had himself named this place Gurusar and declared it a place of pilgrimage, appointing a Ravidasi Sikh to look after it. The old building constructed by Maharaja Hira Singh of Nabha (18431911) was replaced during the 1980`s by the successors of Sam Gurmukh Singh Scvavale. Tlie new building, inside a walled compound, comprises a highccilingcd assembly hall, with the sanctum in the middle marked off by massive square columns and wide arches. Above the sanctum is a domed pavilion lined with glazed tiles and topped by a goldplated pinnacle and an umbrellashaped finial with a khandd at the apex. Domed kiosks adorn the hall corners. The Gurdwara, endowed with 250 acres of land, is affiliated to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. People from the surrounding villages throng for a dip in the holy sarovar on every Monday.

LANGAR CHHANNI, a village in Ambala district of Haryana, about 13 km southeast of Ambala cantonment (30°21`N, 76″50`E),...