Gurdwara Sri Tarn Taran Sahibਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਤਰਨ ਤਾਰਨ ਸਾਹਿਬ

Gurdwara Sri Tarn Taran Sahib is a historic gurdwara in the city of Tarn Taran Sahib, Punjab, founded by Guru Arjan Dev Ji in 1590 and famed for the largest sarovar of any gurdwara in the world. Its gold-plated Darbar Sahib, waters long believed to heal leprosy, and the great monthly gathering on Amavas night make it one of the most visited shrines in the Majha region.

How did Tarn Taran begin?

In about 1590, Guru Arjan Dev Ji, the fifth Sikh Guru, was touring the country between the rivers Beas and Ravi when he reached the spot now known as Tarn Taran. He bought land there and began the excavation of a great tank, larger even than the sarovar around the Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar. The Guru gave the name Tarn Taran, meaning "the boat that takes one across the ocean of existence", to the sarovar itself; the town that grew around the shrine took the same name later.

The foundation stone of the Darbar Sahib was laid by Baba Budha Ji, the revered Sikh saint who lived from 1506 to 1631. Behind the Darbar Sahib, a flight of marble steps known as Har Ki Pauri marks the spot where, according to tradition, Guru Arjan made the first cut when the digging began. The shrine was raised in honour of Guru Ram Das Ji, and a leper asylum was established beside it, for the water was already believed to carry healing minerals.

The largest sarovar in the Sikh world

The sarovar at Tarn Taran is the largest of any gurdwara: an approximate rectangle whose northern and southern sides measure about 289 and 283 metres, with the eastern and western sides about 230 and 233 metres. Originally it was fed only by rainwater flowing in from the surrounding lands.

In 1833, Raja Raghubir Singh of Jind had a channel dug to bring fresh water into the tank, and in 1927-28 Sant Gurmukh Singh of Patiala had the channel paved. Complete desilting of the tank by voluntary kar seva was carried out in 1931 and again in 1970. From the eastern edge of the circumambulatory pavement, a small domed shrine called Manji Sahib marks the spot from which Guru Arjan supervised the excavation.

Architecture of the gold-plated Darbar Sahib

The Darbar Sahib is an elegant three-storied structure at the south-eastern corner of the sarovar, approached through a double-storied arched gateway and standing on a marble-floored platform. After the misl period, Maharaja Ranjit Singh rebuilt it in 1836-37 and completed the unfinished parikarma; like the Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar, he had the upper portion covered with glittering gold-plated sheets, and artisans were brought in to decorate the interior.

Inside, exquisitely executed stucco work inset with reflecting glass pieces covers the walls and ceiling. The Guru Granth Sahib is seated on a platform under an elongated dome of gold-plated sheets, a throne offered by Kanvar Nau Nihal Singh. The lotus dome, damaged in the earthquake of 4 April 1905, was reconstructed with an ornamental gold pinnacle and an umbrella-shaped gold finial. Near the Nishan Sahib stands the four-storeyed Akal Bunga, built in 1841 by Nau Nihal Singh, who also began a minar at the end of the sarovar, of which only one was completed. A relay recital of kirtan goes on from early morning until late evening.

A shrine of Sikh resistance

Tarn Taran has stood at the centre of Sikh history for centuries. Guru Hargobind Sahib visited and stayed here, and Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji preached to the sangat after passing through Baba Bakala, Sathiala, Wazir Bhullar, Goindwal and Khadur. In 1739, Baba Bota Singh and Baba Garja Singh, who spent their days at Tarn Taran, attained martyrdom fighting a Mughal force at Sarai Nurdin nearby.

In 1757, Shaheed Baba Deep Singh drew a line on the ground at Tarn Taran and asked the Sikhs to cross it only if they were ready to die fighting the Afghan invaders. During the misl period the shrine came under the Bhangi Misl, and in 1768 Sardar Budh Singh of the Singhpuria Misl and Maharaja Jassa Singh Ramgarhia rebuilt the Darbar Sahib, then a mud building.

In 1921, seventeen Sikhs were injured and two, Sardar Hazara Singh and Sardar Hukam Singh, attained martyrdom while freeing the gurdwara from its priests, the first martyrs of the Gurdwara Reform Movement. The episode is remembered as Saka Tarn Taran. In March 2019, the demolition of the historic Darshani Deori gateway during a kar seva renovation drew sharp criticism from Sikh organisations over the care of Sikh heritage.

Amavas and the living gurdwara

Tarn Taran is famous for the great monthly gathering of pilgrims on Amavas, the no-moon night, when thousands arrive to bathe in the sarovar and join the divan. The gurdwara is managed by the SGPC. It stands about 22 kilometres south-east of Amritsar in the Tarn Taran district of the Majha region, on plain land between the Beas and the Ravi.

Pilgrims often combine a visit with the Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar. The complex includes langar halls and sarais for staying pilgrims, and the whole Darbar Sahib was renovated and re-plated in gold in 2005.

Why is the water believed to heal?

Sikh tradition holds that the water of the old pond possessed medicinal properties, especially efficacious in curing leprosy. For this reason the sarovar was also known as Dukh Nivaran, the eradicator of suffering. Guru Arjan established a leper asylum beside it, and pilgrims still descend the Har Ki Pauri steps to take charanamrit, palmfuls of the holy water, in faith.

Whether approached as medicine or as blessing, the tank remains the heart of the shrine: its name, Tarn Taran, promises passage across the ocean of existence, and every Amavas the promise draws another generation to its steps.