ਤਖ਼ਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਪਟਨਾ ਸਾਹਿਬਤਖ਼ਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਪਟਨਾ ਸਾਹਿਬ

Gurdwara Takht Sri Patna Sahib, also called Takhat Sri Harimandir Ji, is one of the five Takhts, the thrones of Sikh authority. It stands in ਪਟਨਾ, ਬਿਹਾਰ, on the ground where ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ was born on 22 December 1666, and which was blessed by visits from Guru Nanak Ji and ਗੁਰੂ ਤੇਗ ਬਹਾਦਰ ਜੀ. The white-marble shrine seen today was rebuilt between 1948 and 1957 after the 1934 earthquake, and it keeps some of the most precious relics of the tenth Guru.

ਇਤਿਹਾਸ

Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Sikh Guru, was born in Patna on 22 December 1666. He spent his early years here before moving to Anandpur Sahib. Besides being his birthplace, Patna was honoured by the visits of Guru Nanak and Guru Tegh Bahadur. Guru Nanak visited on his way to the holy city of Gaya, and Guru Tegh Bahadur stayed at this very site. A nineteenth-century painting even records the moment Guru Tegh Bahadur, then in Dhaka, received word of the birth of his son Gobind Rai in Patna.

The spot was once the haveli of Salis Rai Johri, an ardent devotee of Guru Nanak, who converted his palatial house into a dharamsala. When Guru Tegh Bahadur visited Patna, he stayed here. In 1781 Sir Charles Wilkins visited the shrine and published an account in the Asiatic Researches. Shortly after, the building burnt down in a fire. Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Sikh Empire ordered its reconstruction, but did not live to see it completed, he died in 1839. The 1934 earthquake that rocked Bihar damaged the building, and the present structure was rebuilt between 1948 and 1957 at a cost of Rs 2,000,000.

Wilkins's account is one of the earliest English descriptions of a Sikh shrine. He called his essay The Seeks and their College at Patna, and it appeared in the first volume of Asiatic Researches in 1788, describing the dharamsala and its community for readers who had never seen a gurdwara. A generation later, in August 1820, the artist Sir Charles D'Oyly painted the shrine, leaving one of the first coloured views of a Sikh Takht. The building he painted was the one Ranjit Singh was rebuilding, and it stood until the earthquake of 1934.

ਭਵਨ ਕਲਾ

The gurdwara is a luminous example of Sikh architecture in white marble: a domed central structure with cusped arches, carved balconies and gold detailing, the Takht's name in golden Gurmukhi above the entrance. The sanctum marks the birthplace itself, the room where Guru Gobind Singh Ji was born, and the Darbar hall above it holds the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, opened each morning and put to rest each night as in every gurdwara. The shrine complex also carries a langar hall, a sarai for pilgrims and the museum, so that the Takht works as a whole pilgrim town within the old city.

Relics of the tenth Guru

The museum on the premises preserves the relics of the tenth Guru: a gilded cradle (pangura) on four gold-plated stands, in which the infant Gobind Rai was rocked; four iron arrows; the Guru's sacred sword and pair of sandals; a wooden comb; an earthen goli; a small iron kanda; and a book holding the Hukamnamas of Guru Gobind Singh Ji and Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji. The cradle is the most treasured of them all, and during Prakash Parv it is brought out for the sangat to see. These are personal objects rather than display pieces, and they are kept with the care given to a Guru's own belongings.

ਮਹੱਤਤਾ

Patna Sahib is one of the five Takhts of the Sikhs, a seat of authority from which its Jathedar issues edicts to the Sikh community. It is the epicentre of Sikhism's spread into eastern India, and among the most important Sikh shrines in the world. As one of the two great Takhts outside Punjab, the other being Takht Sri Hazur Sahib at Nanded, Maharashtra, it draws pilgrims from across India and the diaspora, and it is the subject of its own detailed entry in this Kosh's guide to India's gurdwaras.

The Takht is run by the Takhat Sri Harimandir Ji, Patna Sahib Prabandhak Committee, which looks after the shrine, the langar and the pilgrim sarai, and organises the annual Prakash Parv. Because it is a Takht, its edicts carry weight beyond the city: the Jathedar of Patna Sahib speaks for the Sikh community of the east, and the Takht's history, from Salis Rai's haveli to the present marble shrine, is the history of Sikhism in Bihar itself.

Festivals and the yatra

The largest annual gathering is the Prakash Parv of Guru Gobind Singh Ji in December and January, when lakhs of devotees stream into Patna Sahib; the 350th Prakash Parv in 2017 was celebrated with great splendour, with the Bihar government running special trains and buses for pilgrims. The Takht's own committee continues to mark the anniversary each year: the 359th Prakash Gurpurab was held from 25 to 27 December 2025. Kirtan and katha run through the days, the langar feeds all who come, and a nagar kirtan winds through the streets of the old city.

Nearby shrines of Patna Sahib

The Takht is not the only Sikh shrine in Patna, and pilgrims usually visit the others in the same trip. Guru ke Baag is the garden where Guru Tegh Bahadur stayed for some days and whose owner gifted it to him. Gurdwara Bal Leela Sahib marks the childhood of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the places where the young Gobind Rai played. Gurdwara Handi Sahib is another historic shrine of the Patna Sahib cluster, linked to the Guru family's journeys in the east. Nearby also stands the Mangal Talab, the pond also known as Gandhi Sarovar, and the Bazaar Samiti shopping hub for pilgrims.

How to reach

The shrine has its own station, Patna Sahib railway station, close by, with Patna Junction connecting it to the rest of India. The nearest airport is Jaiprakash Narayan International Airport, Patna. By road, NH-31 links Patna with the country, and local transport reaches the shrine easily. The best time to visit is October to March. The Takht's official website, takhatpatnasahib.com, carries notices for the Prakash Parv and for sewa, and the committee can be reached on 0612-2641821.

Why is Patna Sahib important in Sikhism?

It is the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Sikh Guru, and one of the five Takhts, the thrones of Sikh authority. The site was also blessed by Guru Nanak Ji and Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji.

When was the present building constructed?

After a fire destroyed the earlier shrine, Maharaja Ranjit Singh ordered its reconstruction, completed after his death in 1839. The 1934 earthquake damaged it, and the present white-marble building was raised between 1948 and 1957.

Which relics are preserved at Patna Sahib?

The museum keeps Guru Gobind Singh Ji's gilded cradle, four iron arrows, his sacred sword and sandals, a wooden comb, an earthen goli, a small iron kanda, and the Hukamnamas of Guru Gobind Singh Ji and Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji.