Kiratpur Sahibਕੀਰਤਪੁਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ

History

Kiratpur — 'the city of glory' — was founded by the sixth Sikh Guru, Guru Hargobind, who bought the land from Raja Kalyan Chand of the local hill state when the Raja visited him at Amritsar in 1621. His eldest son Baba Gurditta laid out the settlement in 1624 on ground carved from the villages of Kalyanpur, Jiowal, Bhagwala and Bhatauli, and the Guru himself moved here in May 1635. From 1635 to 1664 Kiratpur was the headquarters of the Sikh faith and the seat of the Akal Takht's court.

The town was home to three Gurus. Guru Har Rai and Guru Har Krishan were both born and raised here, and both Gurus — along with Guru Hargobind — are connected with Gurdwara Patal Puri on the Sutlej bank. Guru Hargobind died here on 3 March 1644 and was cremated where the gurdwara now stands; Guru Har Rai was cremated at the same spot in 1661, and the ashes of the child Guru Har Krishan were brought from Delhi and immersed in the river in 1664. The Muslim saint Pir Buddan Shah, famed for his great age, also lived here and was honoured by the Gurus.

Geography & people

Kiratpur Sahib sits at the foothills of the Shivaliks on the left bank of the Sutlej, about 30 kilometres from Rupnagar and 10 from Anandpur Sahib. The 2011 census counted 2,348 residents — it remains a small settlement, its life revolving around the gurdwaras and the steady flow of pilgrims who come to immerse ashes in the river.

Places of interest

Gurdwara Patal Puri is the town's spiritual centre — the most popular place in modern Sikhism for dispersing a loved one's ashes into flowing water. The gurdwara stands on a tall plinth above the river, with the prakash asthan of the Guru Granth Sahib at the end of its hall and the asth ghat where ashes are committed to the Sutlej.

Gurdwara Charan Kamal commemorates a visit of Guru Nanak with Bhai Mardana. Gurdwara Baba Gurditta honours the Guru's son who founded the town, and the shrine of Pir Buddan Shah recalls the town's shared sacred geography.

Notable people

Guru Hargobind, the sixth Guru and proponent of miri-piri, founded Kiratpur and spent his last decade here. Guru Har Rai and Guru Har Krishan — the seventh and eighth Gurus — were born here and installed to the Guruship here. Baba Gurditta, the Guru's eldest son, physically established the town in 1624. Pir Buddan Shah, the long-lived Muslim saint, is remembered with affection in Sikh tradition for his devotion to the Gurus.