Dhilwan Kalanਧਿਲਵਾਂ ਕਲਾਂ

Where Dhilwan Kalan sits

Dhilwan Kalan is a large village in Kot Kapura tehsil of Faridkot district, Punjab, in the Malwa region, standing on the Bathinda to Faridkot road a few kilometres from Kot Kapura: the 2011 directory recorded the town as about 3 kilometres away. It has its own gram panchayat in the Kot Kapura development block, covers 2,565 hectares and carries census village code 035589, with PIN code 151204. Kalan, from the Persian for big, separates it from Dhilwan Khurd, the smaller village some of its families later founded near Sadik; it is a different place again from Dhilwan town in Kapurthala district, a confusion the history books themselves warn about. Villages recorded around it include Panjgrain Kalan, Sibbian and Ghaniewala, with Kot Kapura Rural wrapped around the town.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji at Dhilwan Kalan, 1705

In December 1705 Guru Gobind Singh Ji was crossing Malwa ahead of a pursuing imperial force, days after the evacuation of Anandpur and the fighting at Chamkaur. He had passed through Machhiwara dressed in blue as a Muslim holy man, the Uch da Pir disguise, and rested at Dina. At Kot Kapura he asked Chaudhry Kapura Brar for the use of his fort to make a stand against the pursuit, and Kapura refused; the town's side of that refusal is told on the Kot Kapura Rural page. The Guru moved on the few kilometres to this village, then called Dhilwan Sodhian after the Sodhi families settled here, who were his own kin.

He was received at the house of Kaul Sodhi, a descendant of Prithi Chand's branch of the Sodhi family. There, at Kaul's request, the Guru took off the blue robe he had worn since Machhiwara, tore it piece by piece and burned it, and put on white clothes that Kaul presented to him. The words tradition attaches to that moment say, in effect, that he had torn up the blue dress and with it the rule of the Turks and Pathans was finished. He stayed at Dhilwan Kalan for a couple of days. The Sodhi family of the village say the Guru left relics in their keeping when he moved on, among them a cap believed to have been Guru Nanak Dev Ji's, a cloak, socks, a turban and two daggers, which his descendants still preserve. Kapura, repenting of the refusal, is said to have come to the village to ask the Guru's forgiveness. Days later, on 29 December 1705, the pursuing army caught up at the pool of Khidrana and the battle of Muktsar was fought, where the forty Sikhs who had once deserted the Guru, led back by Mai Bhago of Jhabal, died fighting and were blessed as the Chali Mukte, the forty liberated ones.

Gurdwara Godavari Sahib

The halt is marked by Gurdwara Godavari Sahib, also called Godavarisar Patshahi Dasvin, which stands about 200 metres east of the village. Beside it lies the village pond where, by the account kept at the shrine, the Guru bathed during his stay; he named it Godavari Sar, and declared a dip in its water equal in merit to a dip in the Godavari river near Nanded, one of the most sacred rivers of central India. The promise is carried in the gurdwara's name to this day, and the shrine draws devotees from the villages around Kot Kapura.

People and work

The 2011 census counted 9,210 people in Dhilwan Kalan, up from 8,327 in 2001, growth of about 11 per cent: 4,835 men and 4,375 women living in 1,701 households, about 5.4 people to a household. Spread over 2,565 hectares, the density works out to about 359 people per square kilometre. The sex ratio was 905 women for every 1,000 men. Children up to the age of six numbered 1,011, about 11 per cent of the village. Scheduled Castes made up 4,153 people, about 45 per cent of the population, and no Scheduled Tribe population was recorded. The village's main communities are Jat Sikh families of the Dhillon, Dhaliwal, Sidhu and Brar, Bhullar and Gill clans, with Ramgarhia, Sodhi, Khatri and other households.

Literacy in 2011 stood at 65.28 per cent among residents aged seven and above, with men at 70.63 per cent and women at 59.41 per cent. The census recorded 3,247 workers, about 35 per cent of the village. Of the 2,890 main workers, the largest group, 1,110 people, were other workers in trade, transport and services, ahead of 876 cultivators and 847 agricultural labourers; a further 357 people were marginal workers. Counting everyone, the village held 895 cultivators against 987 agricultural labourers: next to a market town, its fields support more labouring families than landholding ones.

Land and farming

Of the village's 2,565 hectares, 2,308 hectares were net sown area in the 2011 record, and every sown hectare was irrigated from canals: the directory records 2,308 hectares of canal irrigation and no tubewell irrigation at all, a pattern that has become rare in Punjab. About 257 hectares were under non-agricultural uses. The crops recorded for the village are rice, wheat and cotton. The directory also records mud utensils made in the village and dariyan rugs as a local handicraft. Farm power supply was recorded at 15 hours a day, and an agricultural credit society was recorded in the village.

Schools and health

The Census 2011 Village Directory recorded one government school at every level in Dhilwan Kalan, primary, middle, secondary and senior secondary, so children can study in the village up to Class 12, and directory listings add private primary and middle schools. The village government high school carries a martyr's name: its gate, in this page's photograph, is lettered for Shaheed Gurpreet Singh. Government health care inside the village rests on a primary health sub-centre and a veterinary hospital; the census detail adds a maternity and child welfare centre, two registered medical practitioners, four faith healers and three medical shops, and Kot Kapura's hospitals are about 3 kilometres away. Drinking water in the directory table came from untreated tap water supplies. A sub post office serves the village, with the nearest full post office within 5 kilometres. A commercial bank stands in the village, while the cooperative bank, ATM and PDS ration shop were all within 5 kilometres in 2011. An anganwadi centre is in the village, the nearest ASHA worker within 5 kilometres, and domestic power supply was recorded at 18 hours a day.

Getting there

Both public and private bus services run in Dhilwan Kalan itself, on pucca roads; a state highway passes through the village, and the nearest railway station, at Kot Kapura, and a national highway are within about 5 to 10 kilometres. Kot Kapura, about 3 kilometres away, is the everyday hub for markets, colleges and administration, and Faridkot, the district headquarters, is about 21 kilometres away.

What is the population of Dhilwan Kalan?

The population of Dhilwan Kalan was 9,210 at the 2011 census, living in 1,701 households in Kot Kapura tehsil of Faridkot district. It had grown from 8,327 in 2001.

Why is Dhilwan Kalan important in Sikh history?

Dhilwan Kalan is where Guru Gobind Singh Ji halted in December 1705 after Kapura of Kot Kapura refused him the fort, and where, at Kaul Sodhi's house, he took off and burned the blue robe he had worn since Machhiwara, days before the battle of Muktsar. Gurdwara Godavari Sahib marks the halt.

How far is Dhilwan Kalan from Kot Kapura?

Dhilwan Kalan stands on the Bathinda to Faridkot road a few kilometres east of Kot Kapura; the 2011 directory recorded the town as its nearest, about 3 kilometres away.