This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2019) |
Baba Nanak Shrine | |
---|---|
![]() Photograph of the front face of Baba Nanak Shrine in Baghdad, Iraq, circa 1920's | |
Religion | |
Affiliation | Sikhism |
Location | |
Location | Baghdad |
Country | Iraq |
Geographic coordinates | 33°20′10.2768″N44°21′50.1732″E / 33.336188000°N 44.363937000°E |
Baba Nanak Shrine, a Sikh Gurdwara in Baghdad, Iraq, which was rediscovered by Sikh soldiers during World War I and was repaired and rebuilt during World War II, by Sikh soldiers again, existed till 2003 in somewhat good shape.
The founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak, who is traditionally locally referred to Nanak Peer as in the area, [1] came to Baghdad in the early sixteenth century, around 1511 AD [2] [3] after visiting the holy Muslim cities of Mecca and Medina. [4] He was initially not allowed to enter the city of Baghdad, which made him spend the night in the cemetery outside the city. The shrine was originally constructed by the local people in the cemetery area in Guru Nanak's holy memory.
The radiance on Guru Nanak's face was reported to be so profound that word spread that a saint had arrived. Consequently, Guru Nanak ji exchanged spiritual and metaphysical ideas with religious authorities, especially Pir Dastgir and Pir Bahlol, both of whom then became disciples of Guru Nanak and bowed to him. This led to formation of a group of his followers in Baghdad who remembered the Guru as Baba Nanak. There was only loose contact between this place and Sikhs of the Punjab until the First World War when Sikh soldiers rediscovered the shrine. [5]
Dr. Kirpal Singh, a captain in the Indian Medical Service of the British Indian army during World War I, located this gurudwara in the west of Baghdad town between an old graveyard to the north and the present Baghdad Samara railway line to the south. To the Arabs, this place is well known as the Tomb of Bahlol. Further, the book titled "Taajudin’s Diary" with foreword by Dr. Harbans Lal, which is an account of a Muslim author who accompanied Guru Nanak from Mecca to Baghdad, explains in detail the conversations Baba Nanak had with Pir Dastgir and Pir Bahlol.
A former Engineer-in-Chief of the Indian army, Major General Harkirat Singh—who was instrumental in the design and construction of the present-day Hemkund gurudwara and the technical and management brain behind it [6] —visited Baghdad in 1982, with a mission to encourage the local Sikh community to pitch in to make the Baba Nanak Shrine into a major gurudwara, which task was later undertaken after he died in 1983. Major General Harkirat Singh was the nephew of Capt. (Dr.) Kirpal Singh and the son of Sardar Sewaram Singh, a Sessions Judge, who wrote the first biography of Guru Nanak in the English Language. In that book, titled "Divine Master," Sardar Sewaram Singh writes about the Baba Nanak Shrine and the inscription on a stone tablet. In its revised edition, the book gives the layout of the shrine as drawn by Capt. (Dr.) Kirpal Singh. [7]
Historic relics such as an old plaque with text inscribed in Arabic [8] [9] existed at the Shrine till the Iraq war in 2003, but were looted by miscreants after the war. In 2007, the Iraqi Government expressed a desire to rebuild the shrine. According to a news report, Abu Yusuf was caretaker of the shrine in 2011. [10] [11] Prior to the Iraq war, a few Sikh pilgrims used to visit the shrine. Reports of regular congregations by Indian workers in Iraq, and cooking and sharing langar by them at the shrine are also there.
The position till 2018 was that the Gurudwara had been completely damaged. Only parts of an outer wall could be seen next to the Tomb of Bahlol. Only one Mehrab remained in one of the walls. Since 2018, a gate protects the space of the former gurudwara.
The Janamsakhis, are legendary biographies of Guru Nanak – the founder of Sikhism. Popular in the Sikh history, these texts are considered by scholars as imaginary hagiographies of his life story, full of miracles and travels, built on a Sikh oral tradition and some historical facts. The first Janamsakhis were composed between 50 and 80 years after his death. Many more were written in the 17th and 18th century. The largest Guru Nanak Prakash, with about 9,700 verses, was written in the early 19th century by Kavi Santokh Singh.
Bhai Bala, born in Talwandi Rai Bhoi into a Sandhu Jat family, was a childhood friend and lifelong companion of Bhai Mardana and Guru Nanak. According to the Bhai Bala Janam Sakhis, he traveled with Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana on all of their great journeys around the world including China, Mecca, and around India. He supposedly died in Khadur Sahib, in his late 70s, in 1544.
Gurdwara Hemkund Sahib is a Sikh place of worship (gurdwara) and pilgrimage site in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India. It is devoted to Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708), the tenth Sikh Guru, and finds mention in Dasam Granth. With its setting of a glacial lake surrounded by seven mountain peaks, each adorned by a Nishan Sahib on its cliff, it is according to the Survey of India located in the Garhwal Himalaya at an elevation of 4,572 metres. It is approached from Govindghat on the Rishikesh-Badrinath highway. The main town near Gobindghat is Joshimath. The elevation of the lake at Hemkund is approximately 15,000 feet.
Sikh architecture is a style of architecture that was developed under the Sikh Confederacy and Sikh Empire during the 18th and 19th centuries in the Punjab region. Due to its progressive style, it is constantly evolving into many newly developing branches with new contemporary styles. Although Sikh architecture was initially developed within Sikhism its style has been used in many non-religious buildings due to its beauty. 300 years ago, Sikh architecture was distinguished for its many curves and straight lines; Keshgarh Sahib and the Harmandir Sahib are prime examples.
German Sikhs are a growing religious minority in Germany. The majority of German Sikhs have their roots from the Punjab, India with the remaining coming from the Afghan Sikh community or through conversion. The number of Sikhs is estimated to be between 25,000. Germany had the fifth highest Sikh population in Europe after United Kingdom (524,000), Italy (220,000), Portugal (35,000) and Spain (26,000).
Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, also called Kartarpur Sahib, is a gurdwara in Kartarpur, located in Shakargarh, Narowal District, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is built on the historic site where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, settled and assembled the Sikh community after his missionary travels and lived for 18 years until his death in 1539. It is one of the holiest sites in Sikhism, alongside the Golden Temple in Amritsar and Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib.
Gurū Nānak, also known as Bābā Nānak, was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated as Guru Nanak Gurpurab on Katak Pooranmashi, i.e. October–November.
Kiratpur, also known as Kiratpur Sahib, is a town, just 30 km from Rupnagar city in Rupnagar district of Punjab, India. The town is the location of the Gurdwara Patal Puri where many Sikhs take ashes of their deceased.
Gurdwara Janam Asthan, 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. The shrine is located in Nankana Sahib, Punjab, Pakistan.
Sikhism in Iraq does not have a permanent population, but has a historical presence because of travels by Guru Nanak and Sikh soldiers stationed in Iraq during World War I and World War II.
Hazur Sahib, also known as Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib, is one of the five takhts in Sikhism. The gurdwara was built between 1832 and 1837 by Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780–1839). It is located on the banks of the Godavari River at the city of Nanded in the state of Maharashtra, India.
Gurdwara Nagiana Sahib is a Gurudwara, or holy Sikh shrine, located in Udoke, a small village near Batala in Punjab, India. The shrine was built by the Sikh saint Sant Baba Chuggat Singh Ji, who served as the first official Sewadar (volunteer) of the shrine.
Nanakmatta is a historical town named after the Sikh pilgrimage site, Gurdwara Nanak Mata Sahib, in the state of Uttarakhand, India. Sikh tradition records that the site was once called Gorakhmata, a centre of Siddh-jogis named after the founder of their order, Gorakhnath, at the distance of 30 miles from Reetha sahib. In the Siddh-Gost in Guru Granth Sahib, the story of Guru Nanak ji on his first udasi is told, wherein he had a long discourse with siddhas on matters of religion and metaphysics. Tradition says that the place was renamed Nanakmatta to perpetuate the memory of Guru's visit. The town is associated with Guru Nanak Dev and Guru Hargobind.
Nepali Sikhs first entered Nepal in the 18th century. Today, there is a small community of Sikhs living in Nepal, with varying claims of their numbers totaling around 609 according to the 2011 census of Nepal whilst others have asserted the true number is in the area of 7,000 people.
Guru Nanak Jhira Sahib is a Sikh historical shrine situated in Bidar, Karnataka. Gurdwara Nanak Jhira Sahib was built in 1948 and is dedicated to the first Sikh guru, Guru Nanak. Bidar has a very long association with Sikhism as this is the home town of Bhai Sahib Singh, one of the Panj Pyare, who offered to sacrifice their heads and were later baptised as the first members of the Khalsa.
Sikhs in China are a religious minority in the People's Republic of China. Sikhism originated from the Punjab region of northern Indian subcontinent.
The Kartarpur Corridor is a visa-free border crossing and religious corridor, connecting the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, near Lahore in Pakistan to Gurudwara Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur district, Punjab, India. The crossing allows devotees from India to visit the gurdwara in Kartarpur, Pakistan, 4.7 kilometres from the India–Pakistan border on the Pakistani side without a visa. However, Pakistani Sikhs are unable to use the border crossing, and cannot access Dera Baba Nanak on the Indian side without first obtaining an Indian visa or unless they work there.
Sikhism is a minority religion in Russia, with an estimated population of under one thousand adherents. There is one gurdwara in Russia, located in Moscow.
Baba Wali Kandhari was a Sufi pir who was born in 1476 at Kandahar. In about 1498, he moved to Hasan Abdal to the western side of mountains. The terrain was hilly and natural fountains used to flow from the ground.
While doing research at a University in Medina, Mushtaq Hussein came across a handwritten manuscript Siyahto Baba Nanak Fakir, in a library. This manuscript was written by an Arabic and Persian writer named Taajudin's Naqashabandi......he kept a diary - Siyahto Baba Nanak Fakir manuscript, which he submitted to a library in Medina in around 1512 AD. This suggests Guru Nanak Dev Ji was in Mecca and Baghdad for roughly one and a half to two years 1511 to 1513 AD.