Of Gurudwaras, mandirs and a lost civilaization

Of Gurudwaras, Mandirs and a lost civilization.

Part 1- Patiala.

       No trip to the Punjab is complete without a visit to its Gurudwaras.  We visited three-The Dukha Nirvana Sahib at Patiala, The Garni Sahib at Hoshiarpur and of course  the  Sri Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar.

       A gurudawra is much more than a place of worship for the Sikhs. It is a repository of the Sikh culture and traditions, an integral part of India’s history.

       The first gurudwara we visited was the Gurudwara Dukh Nivaran Sahib at Patiala.  According to local tradition, the people of Lehal village suffered from a serious and mysterious sickness, which had no known cure. So,  Bhag Ram a follower of Guru Tej Bahadur, went to Saifabad, where the ninth Sikh guru was staying. He requested the Guru to visit and bless his village. Guru Tej Bahadur acceded to the request. He visited Lehal and stayed under a banyan tree beside a lake.  And lo! The sickness in the village subsided and after a short while the people were completely cured. The site where the Guru sat came to be known as Dukha Nivaran. This anecdote is supported by an old handwritten document preserved in the gurudwara.  This incident took place in the 17^th century and in the 18^th century, Maharaja Amar Singh of Patiala, had a garden laid out to commemorate this spot. However, no gurudwara was built here. In 1942, Maharaja Yadavindra Singh of Patiala ( he who also refurbished the Pinjore Gardens) constructed the grudwara on the banks of the lake. He enlarged the lake   which devotees believe have healing powers.

       The gurudwara is constructed in the Sikh style and is a two storey building. It has a domed pavilion on the top. The courtyard is paved with black and white marble. There is a small marble shrine to mark the spot where Guru Tej Bahadur sat under the banyan tree. The interior of the gurudwara is paved with grey and white marble.  Beautiful floral designs in stucco work decorate the ceiling.

       The Gurudwara was full of devotees, silently praying. Kiratan was going on. We paid our respects to the Guru Granth Sahib and came out.

       Our next spiritual visit was to the Shri Kali Mata Temple. This beautiful temple has now been declared a national monument.

       The Sikh ruler, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh financed this temple and was responsible for bringing the beautiful Kali Ma idol from Bengal to Patiala.  Legend has it that he was inspired to do so. A temple dedicated to Raja Rajeshwari  ( much older than the Kali Temple) is situated behind the Kali mandir, in the complex. Devotees not only offer, oil, lentils, sweets, flowers, coconuts, bangles and chunnis, like at all other temples, but here they also offer goats, hens and most interestingly liquor. It is said that on an average, more than 60,000 bottles of liquor are offered during Navarthri! This liquor is poured into a ‘sharab kund’ outside the sanctum. When we visited, whole coconuts and not liquor was being offered in the ‘sharab kund.’

       After the ‘bhkati puja’ we realaised that we were hungry and went to Sahini Dhaba for ‘pet puja’. We had a sumptuous lunch, headed back to our hotel where we rested for a while. In the evening we went to explore the markets of Patiala. More about that later.