SikhiWiki:Today's featured article/March 13, 2009

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On March 14, which is also the Nanakshahi New Year and the first day of the month of Chet, the Sikh community worldwide celebrate the Gur Gaddi (Guruship) of the seventh Sikh Guru, Guru Har Rai.

Guru ji was the son of Baba Gurdita ji and Mata Nihal Kaur ji. Baba Gurdita was son of the sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind. Although, Guru Har Rai Ji was a man of peace, he never disbanded the armed Sikh warriors (Saint Soldiers), who earlier were maintained by his grandfather, Guru Hargobind.

He always boosted the military spirit of the Sikhs, but he never himself indulged in any direct political and armed controversy with the contemporary Mughal Empire. Once on the request of Dara Shikoh (the eldest son of emperor Shah Jahan), Guru Sahib helped him to escape safely from the bloody hands of Aurangzeb's armed forces during the war of succession.

Guru Sahib also established an Aurvedic herbal medicine hospital and a medical research centre at Kiratpur Sahib. There also he maintained a zoo. Once Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Shah Jahan fell seriously ill by some unknown disease. The best physicians available in the country and abroad were consulted, but there was no improvement. .....More