Gurdwara Pehli Patshahi Bijbehara, Kashmir

In the year 1516 Guru Nanak started his Third Udasi (missionary tour, lit. travel). On this trip he visited Mansarovar, Tibet, China, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir. He visited Srinagar, Anantnag and reached Mattan in the interior of the valley. At Mattan, Guruji had a discussion with a great Sanskrit scholar Pandit Brahm Das, who was proud of his knowledge. The Gurdwara is situated southeast of Srinagar at a distance of 62 km by road to Mattan, also called Martand, which is an ancient town four kilometers northeast of Anantnag. The Gurdwara established here is also called Gurdwara Patshahi Pehli (The Gurdwara of the First Master). Its original building, which was constructed by Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa at Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s request, was replaced by the present one during the 1980s. It comprises a rectangular hall with the sanctum at one end and a verandah in front 

“Kashmir held a special place for Guru Nanak ji since he visited the valley along with his companions which left an indomitable impact on Kashmir.There are various testimonies and artifacts which confirm the historical lineage with Gurudwara in Leh, Bijbehara, Ramnagar as well as many other parts of the union territory which are associated with his visit. Guru Nanak Dev ji visited Kashmir in 1518 AD. He stayed at Bijbehara and Avantipur. He happened to meet Pandit Brahm Das who was highly impressed with the way of life and teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji which led him to embrace Sikhism, the beginning of the Sikhism in the valley. Universal brotherhood and secularism entailed from his companionship with Bala; a Hindu and Mardana; a Muslim. A musical instrument ‘rabaab’ that was always carried by Mardana, is preserved at Shernangla in Ramnagar Jammu”, Raina added.

Guru Nanak Dev ji preached against caste systems and suppression. He covered thousands of miles on foot, addressing and preaching people about humanity. The natives of Basoli were very much influenced by the philosophy of Guru Nanak dev Ji and the same gets reflected in the 17-18 century paintings (pahari and miniature paintings), which are available in worldwide libraries. He used to enlighten people by reciting the hymns and showering praise on Almighty.

The following hymn written by Guru Nanak Dev Ji and included in ‘Asa Ki Var’was in fact reference to Pandit Brahm Dass who had tons of loads of old scholarly books on spirituality and well versed with them.

After listening to Guru Nanak Dev ji, Pandit Brahm Dass fell on his feet and became his follower for good. 

Later it was his descendent Pandit Kirpa Ram lead a group of Pandits to Guru Teg Bahadur asking for help against the tyrant Mughal king Aurangzeb who had vowed not to eat food until he had converted 1.25 maunds of Sacred threads worn by Hindus.