Description
The founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak, was born near Lahore. He took elements from Hinduism and Islam and combined them with new ideas. They controlled an empire centered on Punjab, with Lahore as their temporal capital and nearby Amritsar (in India) as their religious capital.
At partition, all the Sikhs migrated to India where they are now asking for a separate Sikh state in the Indian part of Punjab. Their shrines in Pakistan are maintained by the government and are visited at festival times by Sikh pilgrims.
HasanAbdal is a city in northern Punjab, Pakistan, located 40 km from Islamabad. HasanAbdal has an important sikh pilgrim site of GurdwaraPanja Sahib. The shrine is considered to be particularly important as the handprint of the founder of Sikhism , Guru Nanak (1469 – 1539), is believed to be imprinted on a boulder at the Gurdwara. There are different traditions about the origin of the Hand print. People from all faiths, and those who do not profess any faith, are welcomed in Sikh Gurdwaras. . The Raagis recite, sing and explain, the verses from the Guru Granth Sahib, in the presence of the holy congregation. This holy and revered place was built and namedPanja Sahib by Hari Singh Nalwa, the most famous general of Sikh rule.
However, Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar, India, known informally as the Golden Temple, is the holiest Gurdwara of Sikhism.
The town is also notable due to Mughal – era and Garden of Wah of Emperor Akbar the Great (1542-1605) and UNESCO world Heritage sites of ancient Buddist monuments of Taxila. It is said that Mughal Emperors Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb would stay in these gardens on their trips to Kabul. Besides HasanAbdal is located in a strategic part of Punjab, and was the location from which Mughal War expeditions were sent to the northwestern frontier. The Buddhist site of HasanAbdal, just east of the town, dates from the 2nd century bc and has given the town its modern name.
Today’s HasanAbdal lies at the intersection of the Karakoram Highway, and the Motorway. The town is a textile and communications centre that is connected by the Grand Trunk Road and by rail with Peshawar and Rawalpindi. The current multi-billion dollar project CPEC, the HasanAbdal will serve as the terminus for CPEC’s Western alignment.
Nankana Sahib is one of the town in the Punjab province, Pakistan and is a birth place of Guru Nanak, the first Guru of Sikhism. Therefore, Nankana Sahib is a place of high historic significance, religious value and pilgrimage place for Sikhs worldwide. It is located about 80 km from Lahore and about 75 km from Faisalabad. Recently, Nankana Sahib was part of district Sheikhupura till its status was raised to that of a district as a way of promoting development in the area.
Today, Nankana Sahib is a town of Gurdwaras / Sikh temples, the most important being the JanamAsthan or Birth place of Guru Nanak. He spent his whole childhood and teen – age in Nankana Sahib. It was built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the 19th century to mark the birthplace of Guru Nanak in RāiBhoiKīTalvaṇḍī, now called Nankana Sahib.
GurdwaraDera Sahib PanjvinPatshahi Lahore – Guru ArjanDevJi,(15 April 1563– 30 May 1606) is the Fifth of the Ten Sikh Gurus. He was born in Goindval, Punjab, India, the youngest son of Guru Ram Das Sahib Ji and BibiBhaniJi, the daughter of Guru Amar Das Sahib Ji. He became Guru Ji of the Sikhs on 1 September 1581 after the death of his Father Guru Ram Das Sahib Ji. Guru ArjanDevJi died in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. The shrine of Guru ArjanDev is located opposite Lahore Fort near Badshahi Mosque. This is the place where Guru ArjunDev was martyred in the River Ravi facing the tortures inflicted on 30thMay 1606 AD. It was built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the memory of Guru ArjanDev, who complied the AdiGranth, the principal part of Sikh scriptures which later expanded into Guru Granth Sahib. The greatest contribution he made to the Sikh faith was to compile all of the past Gurus’ writings into one book and holy scripture – the Guru Granth Sahib. It was this holy book that made him a martyr.
Guru ArjanDev laid the foundation of the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib) in Amritsar, India. He also designed the four doors in a Gurdwara, proclaiming that “My faith is for the people of all castes and all creeds from whichever direction they come and to whichever direction they bow.
