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BODAL, village 4 km south of Dasuya (31°49`N. 75°39`E) in Hoshiarpur district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Hargobind (1595-1644) who once visited here during a hunting expedition and rested under a garna tree (Capparis horrida) for some time. Bhai Chuhar, a Muslim bard of the village, entertained him by playing on his rebeck. The Guru advised him to learn to perform kirtan, i.e. the singing of sacred hymns. The tree about 200 metres southwest of the village under which Guru Hargobind had sat came to be known as Gama Sahib.
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DIP SINGH SHAHID. BABA (1682-1757). founder of the Shahid misi or principality as well as of the Damdami Taksal or Damdama school of Sikh learning, was born in 1682, the son of Bhai Bhagata and Mai Jiuni. a Sikh couple living in Pahuvind, a village 40 km southwest of Amritsar. He received the vows of the Khalsa at Anandpur where he stayed for some time to study the sacred texts under Bhai Mani Singh. He rejoined Guru Gobind Singh at Talvandi Sabo in 1706 and, after the latter`s departure for the South, stayed on there to look after the sacred shrine, Damdama Sahib.
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DUMELI, village 18 km north of Phagwara (31° 14`N. 75° 46`E) in the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Hargobind who, according to local tradition, visited here on 11 Chet 1695 Bk / 9 March 1638. The shrine raised in his honour is named Gurdwara Thamm Sahib Patshahi VI after a wooden column (thamm, in Punjabi), which, preserved as a sacred relic, is believed to have been installed by the Guru himself. The Gurdwara, entered through a small gateway opening on a narrow lane inside the village, is a hall with a high, vaulted ceiling.
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GHURANI KALAN, an old village in Ludhiana district, was visited by Guru Hargobind in whose memory two gurudwaras have since been constructed. GURDWARA CHOLA SAHIB PATSHAI II CHHEVIN is inside the village and marks the residence of Bhai Surtia, the local masand, leader of the local Sikh group, at the time of the Guru`s visit. Guru Hargobind is said to have stayed with him for 45 days. He was pleased by his devotion and bestowed upon him a few articles, the following of which are still preserved in the Gurdwara as sacred relics: 1. A chold or loose gown with 52 strings attached to it.
GOKHU MAHITA, BHAI, Bhai Toda Mahita. Bhai Tota and Bhat Maddu, all devoted Siklis who performed dedicated service at the time of the excavation of the sacred tank at Amritsar, once came to Guru Arjan and begged to be instructed. The Guru told them to sit in the sangal and recite gurbum. The Guru spoke: "Recitation of the sacred hymns cleanses the mind of sinful thought. To the listeners it gives comfort.
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