Gurdwara Khadur Sahibਖਡੂਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ

Gurdwara Khadur Sahib is a historic gurdwara town in the Tarn Taran district of Punjab, known above all as the base of the second Sikh Guru, Guru Angad Dev Ji from 1539 to 1551. Eight of the ten Sikh Gurus visited this town, and it is remembered as the place where the Gurmukhi script took its standard form, the first Sikh school opened, and the first mal akhara for wrestling was founded.

Why is Khadur Sahib sacred?

After Guru Nanak Dev Ji passed away, Guru Angad Dev Ji moved the young Sikh community's centre from Kartarpur to Khadur, a town he knew well, because of opposition from Guru Nanak's sons who claimed the properties at Kartarpur. Khadur became the base of the second Guru's work for thirteen years, from 1539 to 1551, and the town has been a place of Sikh pilgrimage ever since.

The town's sanctity is usually summed up in one fact: eight of the ten Sikh Gurus came here. Guru Nanak himself visited five times during his preaching tours and stayed at the house of Bibi Bharai, and the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth Gurus all followed in his footsteps.

Thirteen years with Guru Angad

Guru Angad Dev Ji spent nearly his entire guruship at Khadur, preaching Gurbani and shaping the institutions of the young community. The Gurmukhi script was introduced here in a carefully standardised form, the first Gurmukhi primer was prepared, the first school was opened to teach it, and the first Gutka, a small prayer book of Guru Nanak's hymns, was compiled. The Guru also had the Janam Sakhi, the life story of Guru Nanak, written down through Bhai Paira Mokha, and opened the first mal akhara, a wrestling ground where young Sikhs were trained to be physically strong.

Khadur is also where the community kitchen became an institution of Sikh life. Guru Angad's wife, Mata Khivi Ji, ran the langar with her own hands, and the Guru Granth Sahib itself praises her: the hymn of Satta and Balvand says Khivi the noble woman serves soothing food in leaf plates and distributes the Guru's bounty, with kheer like sweet ambrosia. Tradition also tells of the Mughal prince Humayun visiting Khadur with his sword drawn, and the Guru gently admonishing him for drawing a weapon in a house of worship rather than on a battlefield.

In 1541 a devoted disciple named Amar Das came to Khadur to serve the Guru. For about twelve years he carried a water-filled pitcher on foot from the Beas river at Goindwal Sahib, some nine kilometres away, so the Guru could bathe each morning. That humble service was rewarded: Amar Das was anointed the third Sikh Guru, and after Guru Angad Dev Ji passed away at Khadur on 29 March 1552, the new Guru moved the community's centre to Goindwal.

The town eight Gurus visited

The visits of the Gurus are remembered gurdwara by gurdwara across the town. Guru Nanak stayed at Bibi Bharai's house; Guru Angad lived and died here; Guru Ram Das Ji and Guru Arjan Dev Ji passed through on their way from Goindwal to Amritsar; Guru Hargobind Sahib came with his family after his daughter Bibi Veero's marriage; Guru Har Rai visited with some 2,200 horse riders; and Guru Tegh Bahadur came from Baba Bakala after taking the guruship. The spot where Guru Angad's cremation took place is marked by Gurdwara Angitha Sahib.

Gurdwaras of Khadur Sahib

The main shrine, Gurdwara Sri Darbar Sahib, is the Guru Angad Dev Gurdwara of the old town, photographed for Kahn Singh Nabha's Mahan Kosh in 1930. Gurdwara Mal Akhara Sahib stands where the Guru's own family home was: here the first sangat gathered after Baba Buddha Ji asked the Guru to appear before his followers, kheer cooked by Mata Khivi Ji was served, the Gurmukhi letters were first taught to children in the first Sikh school, and wrestling bouts made it the first mal akhara.

In the complex of Gurdwara Tapiana Sahib stand old heritage buildings from the Guru's own time: the Baran-dari, a twelve-door pavilion of small Lakhauri bricks where Guru Angad is said to have addressed his followers, and an old well in the basement of the modern Mata Khivi Langar Hall, built with the same bricks and material. Nearby, Gurdwara Thara Sahib marks where Guru Amar Das meditated after his daily duties, and a museum, the Sikh Ajaib Ghar, keeps portraits, manuscripts, coins and documents on the development of the Gurmukhi script.

Visiting Khadur Sahib today

Khadur Sahib is a town and nagar panchayat in the Tarn Taran district of the Majha region, about 38 kilometres from Amritsar, 20 kilometres from Tarn Taran and only 9 kilometres from Goindwal Sahib. Pilgrims usually visit it together with Goindwal and the great sarovar shrine of Sri Tarn Taran Sahib. The town's population was 11,054 in the 2011 Census, and it is the headquarters of the Khadur Sahib tehsil.

There is no single season for Khadur: it is a working town of shrines, and the gurdwaras are open through the year. Those tracing the early Gurus can cover both historic bases in one day, from Guru Angad's Khadur to Guru Amar Das's Goindwal, only nine kilometres apart, and the Gurdwaras in India guide lists the town among Punjab's major shrines.