Sarhali Kalanਸਰਹਾਲੀ ਕਲਾਂ

Where is Sarhali Kalan?

Sarhali Kalan is one of the largest villages of Tarn Taran district in Punjab, India. It stands in the Majha region, about 20 kilometres south of Tarn Taran town and about 10 kilometres from Patti, in the Chohla Sahib community development block, and it has its own gram panchayat. The village lands cover 3,023 hectares of the flat, well watered plain between the Ravi and the Beas. In the census record it carries village code 038006. The village counted 9,858 people in 2001 and grew to 13,295 by 2011, one of the biggest village populations in the tehsil.

The Guru's stay and Gurdwara Chaubacha Sahib

Sarhali's place in Sikh memory comes from a visit of the fifth Guru. Sikh shrine references record that Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji stayed at this village, then written Sirhali, for some time along with his family. Gurdwara Sri Chaubacha Sahib stands inside the village to commemorate that stay, and it remains the village's best known landmark.

The gurdwara takes its name from the chaubacha, a circular masonry trough used for storing water, which is preserved in the basement of the present building. That building was raised during the 1950s by Sikhs associated with Bhai Gurmukh Singh Sewavale. The sanctum sits on a raised platform at the far end of a marble floored hall built over the chaubacha, and above it rises a domed room topped by a gilded pinnacle. Guru ka Langar and residential rooms stand in the backyard of the one acre compound. The gurdwara holds about 25 acres of arable land and is administered by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee through a local committee.

Population and people

The 2011 census counted 13,295 people in Sarhali Kalan: 7,021 men and 6,274 women, living in 2,458 households, an average of about 5.4 people per household. Spread over 3,023 hectares, the density works out to about 440 people per square kilometre. The sex ratio was 894 women for every 1,000 men. Children up to the age of six numbered 1,419, about 11 per cent of the village. Scheduled Castes made up 3,949 people, about 30 per cent of the population. Literacy stood at 72.15 per cent, with men at 77.09 per cent and women at 66.71 per cent, a little below the Punjab average but strong for a rural village of this size.

Land, water and work

Farming covers almost all of Sarhali Kalan's land: 2,964 of its 3,023 hectares were net sown area in 2011, and every sown hectare was irrigated. Tube-wells and wells watered 2,636 hectares against 328 hectares from canals, so this is a groundwater led village. Only about 59 hectares were under non-agricultural uses. The directory records wheat, paddy and cattle feed as the village's farm commodities, oil as a manufactured product, and razai (quilt) making and dari weaving among its handicrafts. The census recorded 4,685 workers, about 35 per cent of the village. Of the 4,152 main workers, the largest group, 1,667, were other workers in trade, transport and services, ahead of 1,232 cultivators on their own land and 947 agricultural labourers: services and trade already employ more of Sarhali than owner farming does. Farm power supply was recorded at 9 hours a day.

Schools, health and services

Education in the village runs through a government pre-primary, primary, middle, secondary and senior secondary school, so children can study in the village up to Class 12. Local listings also name private schools in the village, including the Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa School, the GGS Khalsa Senior Secondary School and the Mata Gujri Convent School. Health care is unusually strong for a village: the 2011 Village Directory record lists a community health centre, a primary health centre and a health sub-centre in Sarhali Kalan, besides a veterinary hospital, which makes the village a small service centre for its neighbours. The village also had an anganwadi centre, a post office and a sub post office, a PDS ration shop and mobile phone coverage. Banking is available in the village itself, with a commercial bank branch, a cooperative bank branch, an ATM and an agricultural credit society, and the directory also records a regular market and a weekly haat. Domestic electricity supply was recorded at 18 hours a day.

Getting there

Sarhali Kalan is reached by pucca, all-weather roads, and the 2011 directory recorded both public and private bus services in the village itself. Patti, about 10 kilometres away, is the nearest town, and Tarn Taran, the tehsil and district headquarters, is about 20 kilometres away. The nearest railway station was more than ten kilometres away in the census record, at Tarn Taran. Neighbouring villages include Dadehar Sahib, Dhattal and Shakri.

What is Sarhali Kalan known for?

Sarhali Kalan is known for Gurdwara Sri Chaubacha Sahib, the historic shrine inside the village that commemorates the stay of Guru Arjan Dev Ji and is named after the circular water trough, the chaubacha, preserved in its basement. It is also one of the largest villages of Tarn Taran tehsil.

What is the population of Sarhali Kalan?

The population of Sarhali Kalan was 13,295 at the 2011 census, living in 2,458 households in Tarn Taran tehsil of Tarn Taran district.