A plaque with Maharaja of Patiala Bhupinder Singh’s name at the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara. File photo
A plaque with Maharaja of Patiala Bhupinder Singh’s name at the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara. File photo
Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, November 28
Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur Sahib (Pakistan) was reconstructed during the reign of the then Maharaja of Patiala Bhupinder Singh at a cost of Rs 1.35 lakh in the 1920s.
As the gurdwara building was in a poor condition, the Maharaja had taken the initiative to rebuild the shrine in the town where Guru Nanak Dev spent the last years of his life.
The Pakistani authorities have been displaying a glass case containing a shrapnel of a bomb in the shrine’s courtyard. A plaque next to it reads that the bomb was dropped by the Indian Air Force during the 1971 war. The shrine, the plaque says, was saved as the bomb had landed in the well on its premises.
The Kartarpur corridor was earlier envisaged when Gen Pervez Musharraf was the President of Pakistan. A tender was floated, following which 50 per cent of the road for the corridor was constructed on the Pakistan side.
The then Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had offered a golden palanquin in 2005 after paying obeisance at the gurdwara.
In 2017, a Parliamentary Committee led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had ruled out the construction of the corridor, citing security issues and India-Pakistan hostilities.
Kartarpur Sahib is considered to be the oldest Sikh shrine in the world. Its foundation stone was laid in 1572. Maharaja Ranjit Singh had got its dome gold-plated, besides offering a palanquin. The existing structure, it is learnt, was raised by Lala Shayam Dass in 1911
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What Kartarpur means to the Sikhs
Roopinder Singh in Chandigarh
Guru Nanak acquired the land for the village and established a place of congregational worship at Kartarpur.
Last updated: Dec 2, 2018, 12:06 AM (IST)
Roopinder Singh in Chandigarh
Imagine an idyllic setting of a settlement in which the mornings and evenings of residents are devoted to spiritual pursuits even as during the day the residents engage in the hard labour necessary for worldly success. They follow the teachings of Guru Nanak, who lives among them, practising what he preaches, giving a definite shape to his vision.
Imagine losing it all to the vicissitudes of time, ignorance and insensitivity of the person whose cartographic pen divided a nation, and machinations of the politicians, who did not redress the issue. You could just gaze at Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur from across the border, so tantalisingly near and yet so far.
The birthplace and the final resting place of Guru Nanak are both in Pakistan. Such is the pull of these sacred spots, and indeed, this heritage, that the "unrestrained access" is part of the daily prayers of the Sikhs worldwide. Of all historical gurdwaras in Pakistan, Kartarpur is the nearest to the India-Pakistan border. While access to Nankana Sahib, where the birthplace of Guru Nanak is commemorated with Gurdwara Janam Asthan, requires visas and is given in carefully supervised groups, the Kartarpur corridor begins with the hope of direct access.
Historical significance
The import of the shrine is in that it is here that Guru Nanak lived with his family for the last 18 or so years of his life. It is here that he gave material shape to his teachings by gathering a community of his followers. Here everyone lived together, breaking caste taboos. They pursued their worldly duties, were farmers, artisans, etc. and were expected to be moral in their dealings with each other. They recited the Japji and Asa di Vaar in the morning and So Dar and Aarti in the evening. The institution of langar, where everyone ate together in pangats and performed sewa was a revolutionary push towards egalitarianism.
We can let our minds wander a bit into that age and think of how a growing community of people lived a life that attracted many to them. How those who travelled far and wide to seek the truth settled down here, like Bhai Lehna, did. He settled down in the growing community. Such was his devotion and dedication that six years or so later, Guru Nanak would choose him instead of one of his sons as his successor.
Neglect and restoration
Like many other non-Muslim shrines in Pakistan, Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur, too, was ignored. It was only in 1995 that following repeated requests by the Sikh diaspora that the government in Pakistan started restoring the gurdwara.
Guru Nanak acquired the land for the village and established a place of congregational worship at Kartarpur which came to be called Darbar Sahib. The Ravi river had encroached on much of the land and landmarks of the original community over the years, including the platform that marked the final resting place of Guru Nanak.
The Mahima Parkash Vartak, an 18th century source, reports that his son Sri Chand, who had the urn that contained the Guru’s ashes, moved to the left bank of the river and buried where the Dera Baba Nanak Gurdwara in Gurdaspur stands. The double-storey domed sanctum we see now is enclosed in a square pavilion, which is flanked by a tower each on the corners on the rear (river) side. There is a verandah in the basement.
The present building of Darbar Sahib and residential quarters were constructed in 1911-12 by a Hindu devotee, Lala Shyam Das, according to Historical Sikh Shrines by Major Gurmukh Singh.
It has a symbolic platform raised in memory of Guru Nanak’s final resting place. The gurdwara survived the floods of the 1920s because of fortifications built with funds provided by Capt Amarinder Singh’s grandfather, Maharaja Bhupindar Singh of Patiala. As it gets more attention, the infrastructure is bound to improve and there will certainly be no shortage of funds for such an endeavour. The Sikh diaspora is expected to contribute handsomely towards the upkeep of the historic gurdwara.
Corridor of faith
Seven decades of deprivation, of watching the gurdwara at Kartarpur from across the Ravi, past the physical border that seemed insurmountable gave way to hope with the announcement and subsequent ceremonies inaugurating the Kartarpur corridor. The Pakistani announcement and Indian response have given hope to many in Punjab that they would be able to pay obedience at the gurdwara. The announcements represent a significant leap of faith by the two prime ministers, but there is always a chance of the naysayers winning because of geopolitical machinations.
If the corridor were to come to fruition, it could well signal a new beginning in what has been a long, corrosive and destructive relationship between two countries that share history and heritage which their leaders have for too long chosen to ignore. Not everything is likely to go as planned, there are bound to be hitches, but it is a leap of faith which could well build a bridge of goodwill and mark a new beginning.
Haroon Khalid of Dawn, Pakistan
The legend of Guru Nanak’s samadhi and grave is one of the most popularly known stories about him in Pakistan.
At Kartarpur Sahib, outside the main shrine which contains Guru Nanak’s samadhi, is his grave. He might be one of the only people in history to have both a samadhi and a grave. Legend has it that when Guru Nanak passed away, an argument ensued among his Muslim and Hindu followers if he should be buried or cremated.
He was born into a Hindu family but his philosophy had a strong tinge of Islamic monotheism.
Related: The legacy of Guru Nanak lives on in four historic gurdwaras in Punjab
Some of his earliest influences -- Syed Hassan, Rai Bular and his Persian and Arabic teacher, Maulana Qutubuddin -- were Muslims.
Later, he came to celebrate Baba Fareed Ganjshakar and idealised him as a true Muslim. His closest friend and lifelong companion, Bhai Mardana, was a Muslim.
It is believed that to resolve this disagreement, Guru Nanak appeared as an old man and suggested to resolve this matter the next day. When they returned the following day, instead of the Guru’s body they were said to have found a huge pile of flowers, which his devotees divided equally and cremated or buried accordingly.
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The first and only time that I visited Kartarpur Sahib in 2013, there was a Muslim family that had entered with me.
While the police officials at the entrance asked for my reason of visiting this ‘non-Muslim’ shrine, the family was allowed to enter unquestioned.
Inside, I saw them one by one, paying their offerings to the grave of Guru Nanak, just like devotees do at the shrine of Sufi saints. I was told by the local caretakers how several Muslims from the neighbouring villages still come to the gurdwara.
Sikh Pilgrims gather in the Kartarpur Gurdwara Sahib after the groundbreaking ceremony.-- AFP
In fact, even when the gurdwara was abandoned at the time of Partition, it was these Muslim devotees of Nanak that continued coming here.
It seemed as if Nanak’s legacy of drawing followers from across the religious divide was still alive.
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Harish Dhillon in his book on Guru Nanak writes that when Nanak decided to undertake his spiritual journey, he deliberately took up garb that diluted his religious identity -- a loose choga similar to Muslim dervishes, but of reddish ochre, preferred by Hindu ascetics, with a white cloth belt around his waist, similar to fakirs and a cap on his head like the Sufi qalandars.
In his poetry, he refers to God with multiple names, including Allah. When asked by his Hindu and Muslim devotees what religion they should follow to become his Sikhs, he replied that if one is a Muslim then one should strive to be a good Muslim, and if one is a Hindu then one should try to be a good Hindu.
Indian Minister for Food Harsimrat Kaur prostrates herself on the soil in Kartarpur with the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in view.─Photo courtesy Harsimrat Kaur Badal Twitter
Indian Minister for Food Harsimrat Kaur prostrates herself on the soil in Kartarpur with the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in view.─Photo courtesy Harsimrat Kaur Badal Twitter
Spending almost 25 years on the road, Guru Nanak became one of the most widely travelled people of his era. If not known for his spiritual and poetical philosophy, Nanak would have been known for the extraordinary length and breadth of his journey.
From Talwandi (Nankana Sahib) he is believed to have gone as far east as Bengal, to Sri Lanka in the south, to Tibet in the north and then Arabia in the east, before finally settling down at Kartarpur Sahib where he spent 17 years as a farmer.
Read next: How a gurudwara in Nankana Sahib promoted Punjabi for centuries
These journeys took him to some of the most sacred Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim pilgrimages. Wherever he went, he provoked the followers of these religions by challenging the dogmas and rituals at these sites.
He is believed to have engaged in critical discourse with Hindu Pandits and Muslim Sufis, educating them on their own respective religions. When asked what his message was, he used to retort: ‘There is no Hindu, no Muslim.’
Sikh Pilgrims partake in Langar in front of Kartarpur Gurdwara Sahib after the groundbreaking ceremony.--AFP
This was not meant to be a negation of these religions -- rather, an argument that when these religions are practiced in their essence, they all become one, similar to his concept of divinity, which is all-encapsulating and the entire cosmos a part of it.
What Guru Nanak was criticising were dogmatic religious beliefs, superstitions and propped up distinct identities between communities that, instead of bringing people together, became a source of friction. Unity of the cosmos and everything that was a part of it was his philosophical underpinning.
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It is therefore apt that it is Guru Nanak and his final resting place that has today emerged as a symbol of some sort of normalisation on the Pakistan-India border, one of the most dangerous borders in the world.
A visa-free corridor, where there is no Pakistani or Indian, but a devotee of Nanak, would be the ultimate tribute to the first Sikh Guru by both countries.
What is even more remarkable is that the site chosen is Kartarpur, where physical traces of this syncretism in the form of a grave and a samadhi are still present. The sanctity of the shrine was upheld by Nanak’s Muslim devotees when it was abandoned and in ruins, while today it has emerged as the ultimate symbol of peace.
However, while the corridor might become functional, it is possible that local Muslim devotees of Nanak might be barred from entering. This is what happened at other Sikh gurdwaras in Pakistan that have been renovated and its administration taken over by the Pakistani government.
Also read: How shrines helped indigenise Islam and Christianity in South Asia
Pakistan Army soldiers gather in front of Kartarpur Gurdwara Sahib during the groundbreaking ceremony.--AFP
One can hope that the fate of this gurdwara is not a mirror image of some of the other functional ones in Pakistan, that are now restricted to only the Sikh and Hindu pilgrims in the name of ‘security’.
I am delighted that thousands of Nanak’s devotees who have been catching sight of the shrine from afar will finally be able to visit it.
On the other hand, my thoughts go to the local Muslim devotees of Nanak who have upheld the sanctity of the shrine when there was no other.
This shrine belongs to them as much, as it does, to any other religious community. This is what Nanak envisaged.
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