IYALI KALAN

IYALI KALAN, village in Ludhiana district, about 12 km west of the city, is sacred to Guru Hargobind. He passed through this village on his way to Kanarpur after the battle of Mehraj (1634). According to local tradition, a liigh platform was raised here by Bhal Bidhi Chand and other Sikhs to make a dais for the Guru. Hence the name of the shrine, Thara (a platform) Sahib. The shrine was under Udasi priests before its management passed on to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. The present building which stands on an old mound, two metres above the street level, was constructed in 1953. It is a marblefloored square room with an octagonal domed room above it. A gold pinnacle tops the dome. The Guru Granth Sahib is seated in the prakdsh aslhdn on the ground floor. A rectangular divan hall was added to the sanctum in 1960. Opposite the gurudwara, across the village street, is the taveld (stable) where the Guru`s horse, Dilbagh, was kept. A local committee administers the gurudwara. Besides major Sikh anniversaries, Lohn festival falling on the last day of the Bikrami month of Poll is celebrated with special fervour.