Gurdwara Sri Janam Asthaan
About Gurdwara Sri Janam Asthaan
Gurdwara Janam Asthan (Punjabi (Shahmukhi), also referred to as Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, is a highly revered Gurdwara that is situated at the site where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, was born in this town on Baisakh Sudi 3, 1526 Bk/ 15 April 1469.. The shrine is located in Nankana Sahib, in today’s Punjab of Pakistan. The shrine is located in the city of Nankana Sahib (it used to be a small village but since 2014 it has been given status of an independent district). It is approximately 65 kilometres from Lahore. Nankana Sahib had previously been known as Rāi Bhoi Kī Talvaṇḍī, but was eventually renamed after Guru Nanak as a token of honor. Gurdwara Janam Asthan is believed to be located at the site where Guru Nanak was born to Mehta Kalu and Mata Tripta.
The gurdwara forms part of an ensemble of 8 important Gurdwaras in Nankana Sahib.[8] The shrine is hub of Sikh faith and highly visited by the Sikh devotees across the globe. The first Gurdwara Janam Asthaan is believed to have been built at the site in the 16th century by the grandson of Guru Nanak, Baba Dharam Chand but current Gurdwara was built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the 19th century.
1921 Massacre
The Gurdwara has seen much in between including killing of 120 Sikhs on 20 February 1921. Nankana massacre is known as Saka Nankana, which took place after a confrontation between supporters of the Gurdwara’s manager, Mahant Narayan Das, and members of the reformist Akali movement of Sikh community who accused him of both corruption and sexual impropriety. Bhai Lashman Singh Shaheed (from nearby village of Dharowal) gave his life to liberate this Gurdwara.
Hearing of the massacre, thousands of Sikhs in leadership of Bhai Kartar Singh walked long distances to Nanakana Sahib. They were forced by British authorities not to reach Nankana Sahib but Jathhas reached by foot and took over Gurdwara charge from the Mahants very next day.
