Gurdwara Panjvin Patshahi, Nankana Sahibਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਪੰਜਵੀਂ ਪਾਤਸ਼ਾਹੀ, ਨਨਕਾਣਾ ਸਾਹਿਬ

Gurdwara Panjvin Patshahi is a small historic shrine in Nankana Sahib, in the Punjab province of Pakistan, honouring Guru Arjan Dev Ji, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs. It shares one boundary wall with the domed Gurdwara Chhevin Patshahi, the shrine of Guru Hargobind Ji, and the two are visited together as one twin complex near Gurdwara Tambu Sahib, on the road to the Janam Asthan.

What is Gurdwara Panjvin Patshahi?

Panjvin means 'of the fifth', and the name is the whole identity of the shrine: this is the Nankana Sahib memorial of the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev Ji. Where his successor's shrine next door carries a dome, the Panjvin shrine was built plainly, without one, and the contrast is the first thing a visitor notices. When pilgrims count the seven historic gurdwaras of Nankana Sahib, they almost always name 'Panjvin and Chhevin Patshahi' together, as a single stop on the walk between Tambu Sahib and the Janam Asthan.

Why do two shrines share one enclosure?

The two shrines stand inside a common boundary wall on the road that leads towards the Janam Asthan, a short walk from Gurdwara Tambu Sahib. Each keeps its own identity and its own dedication. The domeless shrine belongs to Guru Arjan Dev Ji, compiler of the Adi Granth and the first Sikh martyr. The domed shrine beside it, Gurdwara Chhevin Patshahi, belongs to Guru Hargobind Ji, the sixth Guru, who is remembered as the master of Miri and Piri, the temporal and the spiritual. Read together, the names tell the order of the Gurus: fifth, then sixth, side by side in one walled plot.

History

The event the twin shrines preserve in detail is the visit of Guru Hargobind Ji. He came to Nankana Sahib in the month of Har, Samvat 1670, which is 1613 CE, while returning from Kashmir. At the place where he rested, his disciples established a Gur Mela, a religious gathering at the spot, and thirteen ghumaon of land, a traditional measure, were endowed for the upkeep of the site.

The accounts are honest about what they record, and it is worth saying plainly: they tell the sixth Guru's story, not a separate visit by Guru Arjan Dev Ji to this plot. The fifth Guru's shrine here is a memorial in his honour, raised on ground made sacred by his successor's stay. No separate sakhi of Guru Arjan at this spot is given in the sources for the twin shrines, and this page does not invent one.

Architecture

The complex is modest, and its character comes from the pairing. The Panjvin shrine is simple and flat roofed, without a dome. The Chhevin shrine beside it carries a single dome, and inside that domed shrine a piece of the tree under which Guru Hargobind Ji stayed is kept in a glass case: the tree itself has withered away, and the preserved fragment is shown to the visiting sangat. A common boundary wall wraps both buildings, so the yard, the relic and the two dedications are experienced as one place.

What happened to the shrines after 1947?

After Partition in 1947 the Sikh families of the area left, and survey accounts of the twin shrines describe a long quiet period in which no daily prakash, the ceremonial opening of the Guru Granth Sahib, was held: the buildings stood, and yatrees visited them for solace. That changed in April 2016, when the Evacuee Trust Property Board installed the Guru Granth Sahib at Gurdwara Panjvin and Chhevin Patshahi for the first time after Partition and appointed a granthi, with daily services to be held according to Sikh rehat maryada, the Sikh code of conduct. At that time the twin shrines were counted among the seven historic gurdwaras of Nankana Sahib.

How do I reach Gurdwara Panjvin Patshahi?

The shrines stand near Gurdwara Tambu Sahib, about 300 metres from it, on the road towards the Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib. The town is about 80 kilometres from Lahore and can be reached by road, by bus, or by train from Lahore to Nankana Sahib station, with local rickshaws for the last stretch. Most Sikh pilgrims from India visit in organised jathas for festivals such as Guru Nanak Gurpurab, travelling on pilgrimage visas, so current arrangements should be checked with the Pakistani authorities before planning a visit. The full list of the town's shrines is on our Gurdwaras in Pakistan hub.