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Gurudwara Lakhnaur Sahib – Ambala |
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Lakhnaur is a small village, situated at a distance of 12 km from Ambala city, on Ambala-Barrola road. Here the tenth Guru spent about seven months during his childhood. The child Guru used to play his favourite game of mock warfare.
Sayeed Bhikhan Shah, from Thaska near Thanesar, to pay respects to the child Guru here. Earlier this Muslim holy man had dreamt that a great prophet has taken birth as Gobind at Patna. He went all the way to Patna from his home and bowed before the child Guru. He also presented two baskets full of sweets to him. He had expected that the Guru would accept one basket But the Guru placed his hands on both the baskets, thereby signifving that he would bestow his love and affection, on both Hindus and Muslims.
Another Muslim saint, Pir Arif Din, enjoying great respect visited Lakhnaur and bowed before the child Guru. His disciples resented this action of the holyrnan. The Pir quietened them, by saying that he had bowed before none else than the Lord, whom he saw manifested in the child.
Gurdwara Lakhnaur Sahib is associated with the Tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Lakhnaur was the ancestral home of Mata Gujri Ji, the mother of Guru Gobind Singh. Guruji came to this place with his mother and uncles from Patna and spent some time here. The Muslim cleric, Pir Bhikhan Shah met the young Guru at this place. Another Muslim cleric, Pir Arif Din also paid obeisance to the young Guru at this place. Guruji spent his time playing with his friends. Mata Gujri’s well, sarovar and Baoli are remnants of the visit of Guru Gobind Singh Ji to this village. Among the other articles associated with the Guru and his family on display here include are the Guru’s bed, Mata Gujri’s bed, weapons and utensils used in the langar
Gurdwara Lakhnaur Sahib derives its name from the village it is situated in. Lakhnaur is an old village 10 kilometres south of Ambala City and 7 kilometres from Ambala Cantonment. It was the ancestral village of Guru Gobind Singh’s mother, Mata Gujari, whose father, Baba Lal Chand Subhikhi, and brother Bhai Mehar Chand, lived here. The marriage of Guru Tegh Bahadur to Mata Gujari had however taken place at Kartarpur near Jalandhar, and Lakhnaur had not been visited by the Gurus until Guru Gobind Singh, then a child of four years, arrived here from Patna in September 1670. He was accompanied by his mother, Mata Gujari, and grandmother, Mata Nanaki, and his maternal uncle, Kirpal Chand. Guru Tegh Bahadur had left Patna earlier and traveling via Delhi joined the family here at Lakhnaur, again to proceed onwards alone leaving the family behind. They stayed at Lakhnaur for over six months until, summoned by Guru Teg Bahadur, they joined the latter at Chakk Nanaki (Anandpur Sahib). It was at Lakhnaur that Pir Shah Bhikh (Bhikhan Shah) came and made his bow to the young Gobind Rai whose birth he had divined earlier as an event propitious for humanity. Another Muslim divine, Pir Arif Din, is also said to have made obeisance to Guru Gobind Singh here. After the departure of the holy family, the house in which they had lived during their stay at Lakhnaur, was maintained as a holy shrine. During the later half of the eighteenth century when the Sikh misls held sway over the entire Punjab from Indus to Yamuna, the house was converted into a proper Gurdwara. The Cis-Sutlej region fell under the British rule early in the nineteenth century. Soon after 1849, Maharaja Narinder Singh of Patiala acquired Lakhnaur and surrounding territory from the British in exchange for some of his own elsewhere. Gurdwara Lakhnaur Sahib continued to be maintained and administered under Patiala’s Dharam-arth Board upto 1956, when, consequent to the merger of P.E.P.S.U. in Punjab, the administration passed to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. The Gurdwara building in the centre of a large walled compound has some distinctive architectural features. Sta ding on 10-feet high ground, it is itself within a high enclosure. The 20-feet square sanctum, with a high dome on the centre of the roof and a kiosk at each corner, is entered through a rectangular vestibule covered with elongated dome. The entire interior including the cupola is artistically painted. A vast congregation hall, 120x40x10-feet has been constructed in the outer compound recently. A deep-bore well has been installed within an old baoli or open well. Another well in the open ground outside the village, half a furlong from the Gurdwara building is called Mata Gujari da Khuh (Mother Gujari’s Well). This was constructed within an older but dilapidated well at the instance of Mata Gujari in 1670-71, and still used as a source of sweet drinking water.
The Gurudwara at Lakhnaur is visited by devotees of all relgions,to pay respects to the memory of the tenth Guru.
The Secretary, Management Committee,
Gurdwara Lakhnaur Sahib,
Village Lakhnaur,
Post Office Tharwa,
District Ambala,
Haryana
Pin code 133001
Phone No: 91-171-812925
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