Shaheedi Jor Melaਸ਼ਹੀਦੀ ਜੋੜ ਮੇਲਾ

Shaheedi Jor Mela, also called Shaheedi Sabha, is a three day gathering held every December at Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab. It honours the martyrdom of Baba Zorawar Singh Ji and Baba Fateh Singh Ji, the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, and their grandmother Mata Gujri Ji, who were killed at Sirhind in December 1704 after refusing to give up their faith.

What is Shaheedi Jor Mela?

Shaheedi means martyrdom, and jor mela means a coming together, so the words together describe a congregation held in memory of martyrs. For three days the town of Fatehgarh Sahib, beside the old Mughal town of Sirhind, fills with pilgrims who come to pay homage at the place where the two youngest sons of the tenth Guru were killed. It is a solemn gathering, not a celebration. The days are spent in prayer, in katha and kirtan, and in seva, and the mood of the town is quiet and reverent even as lakhs move through it.

The gathering is also known as Shaheedi Sabha, a name used just as often in Punjab today. Both names describe the same event: the annual remembrance of the Chhote Sahibzade, the younger Sahibzadas, and their grandmother. Families come from across Punjab and from abroad, and many stay for the whole three days.

The martyrdom at Sirhind

The story begins in the winter of 1704. After months of siege at Anandpur Sahib, Guru Gobind Singh Ji and his Sikhs left the fort on the night of 20 to 21 December, under a promise of safe passage broken almost at once. At the flooded Sarsa river the party was attacked and scattered. In the confusion the Guru's mother, Mata Gujri Ji, and his two younger sons were separated from the rest. A former servant of the household, Gangu, sheltered them at his village, Saheri, near Morinda, then betrayed them to the officials there. The three were arrested and sent to Sirhind, the headquarters of Wazir Khan, the Mughal governor.

At Sirhind they were locked in the Thanda Burj, the cold tower, a building that served as a cool summer retreat for officials and was bitterly cold in December. The old grandmother and the two small boys spent the winter nights there with no protection from the cold. On 24 December the boys were brought before Wazir Khan's court, ringed with armed soldiers. They were told their father and elder brothers were dead, and offered a safe and comfortable life if they would convert to Islam. They refused. A courtier named Suchanand insulted them, and the boys answered that their grandfather, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, had also refused to convert and had been martyred for his faith.

They were brought before the court again the next day, and the pressure continued. Nawab Sher Muhammad Khan of Malerkotla, who had fought Guru Gobind Singh Ji in battle and lost his own relatives, was moved by the boys' courage and refused to take any part in harming them. Wazir Khan ordered the execution all the same. In the tradition that Sikhs remember, the boys were bricked alive into a wall, and the wall collapsed as it rose. The early written accounts say they were then beheaded, on 27 December 1704, and their bodies were thrown aside. Mata Gujri Ji, who heard of their deaths in the tower, could not bear the loss and died the same day.

A local banker, Diwan Todar Mal, bought the cremation ground by laying gold coins over it, edge to edge, until the plot was covered. The cremation took place where Gurdwara Jyoti Swarup stands today, and Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib marks the place where the bodies had been thrown aside. Bhai Moti Ram Mehra, a servant in Wazir Khan's kitchen, had secretly carried milk and water to the prisoners. When the governor learned of it, Moti Ram and his family were crushed to death in an oil press. Six years later, in 1710, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur broke Wazir Khan's army at Chappar Chiri, took Sirhind, and killed Wazir Khan. The town and district took their name from the younger boy: Fatehgarh Sahib, the fort of victory.

When is Shaheedi Jor Mela held?

The gathering is held over three days in the last week of December, usually between 24 and 28 December, and the exact dates shift from year to year. The usual pattern begins on 24 December with the Akhand Path, the continuous reading of Guru Granth Sahib, at Gurdwara Jyoti Swarup, and closes on 26 December with a nagar kirtan from Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib to Gurdwara Jyoti Swarup. In some years the three days have run from 25 to 27 December instead, so visitors should check the dates for the year before travelling.

The 26th of December is the martyrdom day itself, observed across India since 2022 as Veer Bal Diwas, the day of brave children, after the Prime Minister announced it on 9 January 2022. The sources do not agree on every detail of the old event. The year is given as 1704 in most scholarly accounts and in the Government of India's own notification, and as 1705 in the popular tradition and in some reference works. The boys' ages are most often given as nine and seven, but other sources give eight and five. This page uses the most commonly given figures and notes the disagreement rather than choosing one version and hiding the other.

Three days at Fatehgarh Sahib

The first day is kept purely religious. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee arranges the deewan, where preachers, ragis and dhadi jathas use traditional music to retell Sikh history, and the congregation hears the story of the Sahibzadas where it happened. Lakhs of devotees pay obeisance at the three gurdwaras of the complex: Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib, Gurdwara Jyoti Swarup and Gurdwara Thanda Burj. Political parties used to hold rallies on the second day, but in recent years they have stopped, so the tributes to the Chhote Sahibzade can be paid in peace.

The langar is the most visible seva of the gathering. Villagers pool grain, vegetables, milk and other food, and set up community kitchens along every road to the gurdwara. One Hindustan Times report counted around 250 langars near the town during a single gathering, run by village panchayats, gurdwara committees and youth clubs, with women cooking chapatis and men serving travellers round the clock. Passersby are asked to eat before continuing, whatever their religion or background, and the kitchens serve tea, snacks and meals at every mile on the way to Sirhind.

The scale is immense. The Punjab Chief Minister said around 80 lakh devotees had visited the town during the previous Shaheedi Sabha, and the state government counts the gathering among the largest religious events in Punjab. Each year the district administration arranges parking areas, barricades and checkpoints to control traffic, medical and emergency services, and a heavy police presence. For the 2026 gathering the government announced 200 shuttle buses, more e-rickshaws for elderly pilgrims, 20 Aam Aadmi Clinics, night shelters and drone patrolling.

Why the gathering matters

The two boys are remembered as the youngest martyrs in Sikh history, and perhaps the youngest people anywhere to give their lives knowingly for their faith. That is why the gathering draws families with children, and why schools across India now mark 26 December as Veer Bal Diwas, telling the story to a new generation. The remembrance is not only about the past. The story of the Thanda Burj, the refusal in Wazir Khan's court, Todar Mal's gold coins and Moti Ram's milk has become, for Sikhs, a measure of what faithfulness can cost.

Fatehgarh Sahib holds another fair in March, during Hola Mohalla, so the town gathers twice a year around the same shrines. The December gathering remains the greater of the two, marking the days when the youngest sons of the Guru and their grandmother gave their lives at Sirhind, and bringing together, in the coldest week of the year, the largest congregation the town ever sees.

Visiting Fatehgarh Sahib

Three shrines carry the story. Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib stands on the site of the martyrdom, about five kilometres north of Sirhind, with the Bhora Sahib, the underground chamber, beneath it. Gurdwara Jyoti Swarup marks the place of the cremation, and Gurdwara Thanda Burj, also called Burj Mata Gujri, marks the cold tower where the three prisoners were held. Together they tell the whole story within a few hundred metres.

December in Fatehgarh Sahib is cold, often with morning fog, so visitors should dress warmly and allow extra time on roads filled with pilgrims, buses, trucks and tractor trolleys. Accommodation in the town is limited and fills early, and the langars along the roads mean no visitor goes hungry. As at every gurdwara, visitors cover their heads, remove their shoes and sit on the floor for langar. The best time to arrive is early in the morning, when the deewan begins and the town is still quiet.