ਖਡੂਰ ਸਾਹਿਬਖਡੂਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ

The seat of Guru Angad Dev Ji

Khadur Sahib is a historic village in Khadur Sahib tehsil of ਤਰਨ ਤਾਰਨ district, Punjab, in the Majha region, about 22 kilometres by road from Tarn Taran town. In Sikh tradition it is sacred above all as the seat of ਗੁਰੂ ਅੰਗਦ ਦੇਵ ਜੀ, the second Guru, who made it the centre of the young Sikh faith from 1539 until his passing in 1552. Eight of the ten Sikh Gurus are said to have visited the place. The settlement has since grown into a small town with a nagar panchayat, and it gives its name, in the spelling Khadoor Sahib, to both a Punjab assembly constituency and a Lok Sabha seat. Its census heart is still the village of the record: 11,054 people in 2,027 households over 1,613 hectares, village code 038282.

How Khadur became the centre of the Sikh faith

The place entered Sikh history through Bhai Jodha, a local disciple whom Guru Nanak Dev Ji is said to have visited here. Bhai Lahina lived in Khadur, where his father Baba Pheru had settled and where he was married in 1519, and it was Bhai Jodha's example that led him to seek out Guru Nanak at Kartarpur. Anointed there as Guru Angad in 1539, he returned to Khadur following Guru Nanak's instruction and made it his base, moving the community's centre from Kartarpur. Sikh chronicles relate that on first arriving he withdrew into a small room in the house of his aunt, Mai Bharai, locking the door from inside so that he could meditate undisturbed. When the sangats could not find their new Guru, Baba Buddha Ji led them to Khadur and, risking the Guru's displeasure, broke through a wall of the room to reach him, after which Guru Angad came out to meet the Sikhs. Gurdwara Mai Bharai now stands where her house stood.

At Khadur, Guru Angad is remembered for teaching children the Gurmukhi letters at the Mall Akhara, the wrestling ground where the village youth trained in bouts, and tradition connects his court with early work on recording the life of Guru Nanak. Here Baba Amar Das served him for years, travelling in from Goindwal, and here Guru Angad anointed him as the third Guru before passing away in 1552. Guru Amar Das later moved the headquarters to ਗੋਇੰਦਵਾਲ on the Beas.

The gurdwaras of Khadur Sahib

The shrines are administered by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee through a local committee, and Jugti's religion section carries its own page for ਖਡੂਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ. The chief shrine is Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Angitha Sahib, set in a high walled compound entered through an old two storeyed gateway. Its square domed sanctum, with a circumambulatory passage and a hall in front, marks the site where Guru Angad's body was cremated, the angitha from which the shrine takes its name.

Close by stands a square domed marble pavilion called Killa Sahib, or Khaddi Sahib. It marks a weaver's pit, khaddi in Punjabi, where Baba Amar Das, carrying a pitcher of water for Guru Angad during a pitch dark night, stumbled against a killa, a wooden peg. The fall in the weaver's pit is retold across the Sikh world as the moment his years of humble service stood revealed. An old well near the gateway is called Bibi Amaro Ji da Khuh, the well of Bibi Amaro, Guru Angad's daughter, whose singing of hymns had first drawn Baba Amar Das to seek the Guru at Khadur.

Gurdwara Thara Sahib Guru Amar Das, a small domed room on a high plinth in the middle of a marble floored platform, marks the spot where Baba Amar Das used to sit in meditation when he was not engaged in serving Guru Angad or his Sikhs. Gurdwara Tapiana Sahib marks the site where Guru Nanak is said to have preached to a gathering of devotees; its hall stands on a high plinth before a sarovar, and local tradition holds that the events of Guru Nanak's life were narrated here by Bhai Bala in the form of a Janam Sakhi, with a small platform nearby marking where Bhai Bala's remains were cremated. Opposite it, Gurdwara Tap Asthan Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji marks where Guru Angad sat in meditation, and at the northern edge of the village Gurdwara Mall Akhara keeps the memory of the wrestling pit where the Guru also taught children their letters; young scholars are still trained there in reciting the Guru Granth Sahib.

People and work

The 2011 census counted 11,054 people in Khadur Sahib: 5,795 men and 5,259 women, a sex ratio of 908 women for every 1,000 men, living in 2,027 households at about 5.5 people to a household, a density of about 685 people per square kilometre. Children up to the age of six numbered 1,318, about 12 percent of the village. Scheduled Castes made up 3,335 people, about 30 percent of the population, and no Scheduled Tribe population was recorded. Literacy stood at 73.45 percent among residents aged seven and above, with men at 77.46 percent and women at 69.08 percent.

The census recorded 4,186 workers, about 38 percent of the village. Of the 2,435 main workers, the largest group, 935, were cultivators on their own land, close ahead of 934 other workers in trade, transport and services and 294 household industry workers. A further 1,751 people were marginal workers, employed for only part of the year. Counting main and marginal workers together, 1,015 people cultivated land and 803 worked as agricultural labourers, so most farm work here is done by landholding families themselves.

Land and farming

Farming covers most of Khadur Sahib's land. Of the village's 1,613 hectares, 1,427 hectares were net sown area in the 2011 record, and every sown hectare was irrigated, all of it from wells and tube wells. About 186 hectares were under non-agricultural uses such as the settlement, roads and ponds. Farm power supply was recorded at 9 hours a day.

Schools, health and everyday services

Education in the village runs through one government primary school, one government middle school, one government secondary school and one government senior secondary school, so children can study in the village up to Class 12. The settlement is also served by Shri Guru Angad Dev College, affiliated to Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and established in 1970. The village has an anganwadi centre and an ASHA health worker.

On health, the older summary of this page was badly wrong. The 2011 Village Directory in fact recorded a community health centre, a primary health centre, a primary health sub-centre and a dispensary inside Khadur Sahib, together with a veterinary hospital for its livestock. The only listed facility the village did not have was an allopathic hospital. Treated tap water was available in the village. Khadur Sahib had its own post office and a sub post office, a PDS ration shop, mobile phone coverage and an internet common service centre. Banking was available in the village itself, with a commercial bank branch, a cooperative bank branch and an ATM. Domestic electricity supply was recorded at 18 hours a day, and power for all users together at 14 hours.

Getting there

Khadur Sahib is reached by pucca, all-weather roads, and the 2011 directory recorded both public and private bus services in the village itself. Tarn Taran, the district headquarters, is about 22 kilometres away by road. The census recorded Patti as the nearest town. In 2011 the nearest railway station was five to ten kilometres away; the station named for the village, Khadur Sahib (KDSB), serves travellers today. Neighbouring villages include Kallah, Biharipur, Ghazipur and Aiampur.

Why is Khadur Sahib important in Sikh history?

Khadur Sahib was the seat of Guru Angad Dev Ji, the second Sikh Guru, from 1539 to 1552. Guru Nanak had visited before him, Guru Amar Das served and was anointed here, and the village's gurdwaras mark Angad's court, his cremation site and Amar Das's years of service.

What is the population of Khadur Sahib?

The population of Khadur Sahib was 11,054 at the 2011 census, living in 2,027 households in Khadur Sahib tehsil of Tarn Taran district, Punjab.

What health facilities does Khadur Sahib have?

The Census 2011 Village Directory recorded a community health centre, a primary health centre, a sub-centre and a dispensary inside Khadur Sahib, along with a veterinary hospital. Only an allopathic hospital was absent.