BHAI RUPA, village 18 km north of Rampura Phul (30° 16`N, 75° 14`E) in Bathinda district of the Punjab, celebrates the name of a prominent Sikh, Bhai Rupa(Rup Chand, 1614-1709), who laid the foundation of it in 1631 at the instance of Guru Hargobind. Next to Bhai Rupa`s house was built a gurdwara in Guru Hargobind`s honour. The present Gurdwara Sahib Patshahi Chhevin, a two storeyed domed building, marks that site inside the village. Guru ka Langar is across a narrow lane. In the same direction is the pavilion raised recently to accommodate larger divans.
GHULAL, an old village in Ludhiana district, 8 km west of Samrala (30°50`N, 76°ll`E), claims a historical shrine dedicated to Guru Gobind Singh. This Gurdwara is not included in older lists of Sikh historical shrines, but local tradition indicates that Guru Gobind Singh, on his way from Machhivara to the interior ofMalva country, stopped in this village for a while before proceeding to Lall. The Gurdwara stands on a mound inside the village said to be the site of an older shrine.
NAULAKKHA, a village about 20 km north of Patiala (30° 20`N, 76° 26`E), has a gurdwara dedicated to the memory of Guru Tegh Bahadur who visited the site during one of his journeys across the Malva region. The shrine was managed for a long time by a line of mahants from whom the village Sikh community secured prossession of it during the days of the Gurdwara Reform movement of the 1920`s. The old building was replaced by a new one in 1991 Bk/AD 1934. This present building is constructed around a domed sanctum. The Guru ka Langar is close by. The shrine is managed by a local committee under the auspices of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.
NESTA, village 2 km south of Atari in Amritsar district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Hargobind (1595-1644) who stayed here for a while during his journey from Lahore to Amritsar. According to local tradition, at the villagers` complaint that the water of their well was brackish, the Guru had them dig another well close to it. The water of this well was sweet (mittha, in Punjabi). Both these wells still exist side by side. The shrine established here came to be called Mitthasar.
TALVARA, locally known as RampurTalvara because of its close proximity to a village called Rampur, lies near Sri Hargobindpur (31041`N, 75029`E) in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab. It claims a historical shrine, Gurdwara Damdama Sahib, dedicated to Guru Hargobind, who is said to have preached here after the batttle of Ruhela, as Sri Hargobindpur was then called. The Gurdwara has a domed sanctum, octagonal in shape, in the middle of a walled compound entered through a two storeyed gateway, with residential suites on either side.
