Gurdwaras in Ludhianaਲੁਧਿਆਣਾ ਦੇ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰੇ

Gurdwaras in Ludhiana are the historic Sikh shrines of Ludhiana district in Punjab, India, and unusually, every one of the six in this guide belongs to a single journey: the escape and regrouping of Guru Gobind Singh Ji after the Battle of Chamkaur in December 1704. Three stand in the small town of Machhiwara, where the Guru rested in a garden, slept in a supporter's upper room and left in a palanquin disguised as a Muslim saint. One stands at Alamgir, where he set the palanquin down and took a horse. One stands at Raikot, whose Muslim chief sheltered him openly, and one at Mehdiana near Jagraon, where his Sikhs asked him to answer the emperor in writing. The modern road that links them is the Guru Gobind Singh Marg, and this guide sits inside our hub for Gurdwaras in Indian Punjab.

Why do all of Ludhiana's gurdwaras tell one story?

Because the district lay directly on the Guru's road west. Driven from Anandpur Sahib in December 1704 and cut off at Chamkaur, where his two elder sons fell, Guru Gobind Singh Ji slipped out of the fortress at night and crossed this countryside alone, on foot and then in disguise, gathering himself and his scattered Sikhs village by village. Machhiwara, Alamgir and Raikot were the halts where help reached him: shelter from an old servant, courage from two Pathan horse dealers, a horse from a disciple, and protection from the chief of Raikot. Mehdiana, a few weeks later, was where the journey turned from flight to defiance, and the Zafarnama, his letter of victory to Emperor Aurangzeb, was resolved on. Read in order, the six shrines are chapters of one story, and pilgrims still travel them in that order.

Machhiwara: the garden, the upper room and the Pir's palanquin

The Guru reached Machhiwara after leaving Chamkaur on the night of 7 December 1705 by the traditional dating, and stopped first in a garden outside the town. Gurdwara Charan Kamal Sahib marks that garden: here Bhai Daya Singh Ji, Bhai Dharam Singh Ji and Bhai Man Singh Ji, separated from him in the escape, found him asleep under a tree, and here tradition places his hymn Mittar Pyare Nu, sung to his beloved from the wilderness. He then moved into the town to the house of Gulaba, an old masand, and slept in its upper room, the chubara kept by Gurdwara Chubara Sahib, where the great earthen pot used to dye his clothes blue is still preserved. The boldest help came from Ghani Khan and Nabi Khan, two Pathan horse dealers who had known the Guru at Anandpur. They dressed him as the Pir of Uchch, a revered Muslim holy man, and carried him out of Machhiwara in a palanquin with his Sikhs as attendants. Gurdwara Uchch Da Pir, in the brothers' own house, keeps that night, and the fair held each December on the 9th and 10th of Poh gathers the town around all three shrines.

Alamgir: where the palanquin was set down

Thirteen kilometres south west of Ludhiana city, the village of Alamgir holds the moment the disguise ended. At Gurdwara Manji Sahib, Alamgir, the Guru discarded the palanquin that had carried him from Machhiwara and accepted a horse presented by an old disciple, Bhai Naudha, riding on as himself. The palanquin, the manji that gives the shrine its name, is preserved in the Bhora Sahib below the sanctum. The shrine's second wonder is water: tradition tells that the Guru shot an arrow into the ground and a clean spring rose where the only well had been fouled, and the square sarovar of about 63 metres is still called Tirsar, the Arrow Pool. The complex covers over three acres, its dining hall seats about 2,000, and a three day fair from 14 to 16 Poh, in late December, marks the halt each year.

Raikot and Mehdiana: shelter, the Ganga Sagar and the Zafarnama

At Raikot the Guru was received in January 1705 by Rai Kalha III, the Muslim chief of the town, who sheltered him at real risk to himself. Gurdwara Tahliana Sahib, named for the tahli tree under which the Guru rested, keeps the visit, and the Rai family still guards the Ganga Sagar, the copper urn pierced with 288 holes through which the Guru is said to have poured milk without a drop escaping. Further west near Jagraon, Gurdwara Mehdiana Sahib stands by the Dhaab, a natural pool where the Guru rested, bathed and cleaned his teeth with tree twigs after gathering support across Malwa. There the sangat asked him to write to Aurangzeb, and the resolve that became the Zafarnama was formed. Since 1972 Jathedar Jora Singh Lakha has built the site into a 25 acre complex of life size sculptures of Sikh martyrdoms by the artist Tara Singh, with twenty paintings by Kirpal Singh, a museum and a school, which is why Mehdiana is called the School of Sikh History.

All Gurdwaras in Ludhiana

• Gurdwara Charan Kamal Sahib, Machhiwara - the garden where the Guru rested after Chamkaur and his companions found him asleep
• Gurdwara Chubara Sahib, Machhiwara - the upper room of Gulaba's house where the Guru spent the night
• Gurdwara Uchch Da Pir, Machhiwara - house of Ghani Khan and Nabi Khan, who carried the Guru out disguised as the Pir of Uchch
• Gurdwara Manji Sahib, Alamgir - where the Guru left the palanquin, took Bhai Naudha's horse, and drew the Tirsar spring
• Gurdwara Tahliana Sahib, Raikot - Rai Kalha's town, home of the Ganga Sagar urn of 288 holes
• Gurdwara Mehdiana Sahib - the School of Sikh History, where the sangat asked for the Zafarnama

How do you visit Ludhiana's gurdwaras?

Follow the story in order and the geography makes sense. Start at Machhiwara, about 35 kilometres north east of Ludhiana city, where the three shrines stand within a short walk of each other, then drive south west to Alamgir on the city's edge, west to Raikot, and finish at Mehdiana near Jagraon. Ludhiana itself is one of Punjab's great rail junctions, and all six shrines are reached by road from it in a single day, though Mehdiana's sculpture park deserves an unhurried hour of its own. December is the living season for this route, with the Machhiwara fair on the 9th and 10th of Poh and the Alamgir fair from 14 to 16 Poh, but the shrines keep daily services all year. Cover your head, remove your shoes, and accept the langar: every one of these gurdwaras still feeds its visitors.

What is the most famous gurdwara in Ludhiana district?

Gurdwara Manji Sahib at Alamgir is the district's best known shrine, for the palanquin relic and the Tirsar spring, while Mehdiana Sahib is its most visited teaching site. Machhiwara's three shrines, though smaller, hold the most intimate moments of the 1705 journey, and most pilgrims on the Guru Gobind Singh Marg visit all six together.