BEERWAH (pronounced Birvah), a sub divisional town in Badgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, 35 km southwest of Srinagar (34° 5`N, 74° 50`E), claims a historical Sikh shrine, Gurdwara Sri Guru Nanak Charan Asthan Dukhnivaran, commemorating the visit of Guru Nanak to these parts in the early years of the sixteenth century. The old building was washed away by floods in 1948. Only a single small room served as the gurdwara until the present doublestoreyed building was constructed in 1975.
BHALAN, village near the confluence of Soah rivulet with the River Sutlej 14 km south of Nangal in Ropar district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Gobind Singh, who arrived here following Khanzada Rustam Khan in the winter of 1693-94. As Guru Gobind Singh himself relates in his Bachitra Natak, the Khanzada had planned to surprise the Sikhs with a night attack, but finding the defendants alert he beat a hasty retreat. "Ravaging Barva village (on his way back)," records Guru Gobind Singh, "he made a halt at Bhalan." The shrine rebuilt by the local sangat in 1960 is called Gurdwara Dashmeshgarh (lit. Fort of the Tenth Master). It is a small square sanctum with a circumambulatory verandah around it. The Gurdwara is managed by a committee of the local Sikhs.
BHAROVAL, village 15 km east of Tarn Taran (31°27`N, 74°56`E) along the Tarn TaranGoindval road, is sacred to Guru Angad (1504-52), who stayed here awhile on his way back from Khan Chhapri to Khadur Sahib. The commemorative shrine formerly known as Guruana is now called Gurdwara Guru Angad Sahib. The present complex, reconstructed during the 1980`s, includes a marblefloored, rectangular divan hall, with the sanctum at the far end and a verandah around it.
BUDDHA. BABA (1506-1631), a most venerated primal figure of early Sikhism, was born on 6 October 1506 at the village of Katthu Narigal, 18 km northeast of Amritsar (31° 36\'N, 74° 50\'E). Bura, as he was originally named, was the only son of Bhai Suggha, a Jatt of Randhava clan, and Man Gauran, born into a Sandhu family. As a small boy, he was one day grazing cattle outside the village when Guru Nanak happened to pass by. According to Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, Bura went up to him and, making obeisance with a bowl of milk as his offering, prayed to him in this manner: "0 sustainer of the poor! I am fortunate to have had a sight of you today.
BUTALA, a village 7 km northeast of Baba Bakala (31°34`N, 75°16`E) in Amritsar district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Hargobind who, according to local tradition, visited here on 15 Phagun 1665 Bk/10 February 1609. The inhabitants of Butala, with the exception of an old lady and her son who followed the Sikh faith, were the worshippers of Sakhi Sarwar. One day, it is said, the son asked the mother, what offering they would have for the Guru, should he, in answer to their prayers, come to them.