Takhat Sachkhand Sri Hazoor Sahib

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Aerial view of Sach Khand, Sri Hazur Sahib, Nanded Explore at Wikimapia

Takhat Sachkhand Sri Hazoor Sahib is the principal Sikh shrine at Nanded in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It marks the site where Guru Gobind Singh had his camp in 1708 AD after the departure of the emperor Bahadur Shah. The tenth Guru held his court and congregation here. It is the site of his own tent where he was convalescing after he was attacked by assassins. It is the place from where the tenth Guru rose to heaven along with his horse Dilbag. This site is one of five Takhats which are places of primary importance to the Sikhs. The other four takhats are: Akal Takhat at Amritsar, Takhat Keshgarh Sahib at Anandpur, Takhat Patna Sahib in Bihar District and Takhat Damdama Sahib in Talwandi Sabo, Bhatinda, Punjab.

In 1708 being prescient of the end of his earthly role, the Guru had dispatched Banda Singh with five of his Sikhs to Punjab and Mata Sahib Devan under a separate escort to Delhi before the stabbing incident. He told the rest of his retinue to retire to their homes if they so wished, but he bade one Bhai Santokh Singh to stay on here and keep Guru ka Langar going. many others also chose to remain. Together they built a room over the platform where the used to sit while holding his court and installed Guru Granth Sahib on it. They called it Takhat Sahib. Guru Gobind Singh, while conferring Guruship on the holy Book, had himself named Nanded as Abchalnagar (literally "Steadfast city") after the first word of a hymn read at random on the occasion.

Sachkhand (literally "region of Truth") had been used by Guru Nanak Dev to mean the abode of God. The present building of the Takhat Sahib was got constructed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh with money, artisans and labor sent from Punjab during early 1830s. Around the same time the Nizam of Hyderabad raised a contingent of Northern Sikhs as part of his army. Most of these men settled permanently in Hyderabad State. Many militant and righteous Hindus embraced Sikhism in the 18th century. The control of Takhat Sachkhand Sri Hazoor Sahib, which had formerly passed into the hands of Udasi priests was regained by the Sikhs under the influence of the Singh Sabha Movement of the late nineteenth century. Some of the rituals and ceremonies connected with working are peculiar to this Takhat Sahib. In 1956 an Act was passed by the legislature of Hyderabad under which the management of Takhat Sahib and other historical Gurdwaras was legally placed under a 17 member Gurudwaras Board and a five member Managing Committee.


Travelling to Hazoor Sahib

Sach Khand, Sri Hazur Sahib, Nanded

I travelled to Hazoor Sahib in Feb 2000 with my sister and mother. Below are some details about our trip which might help if you are ever going to travel there.

We flew into Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay). We had to get to a place called Nanded in Maharastra, which is 600 KM (400 Miles) East of Mumbai (inland). You can either: DRIVE, which takes 15 hours. TRAIN, which takes 11 hours. BUS, which would I assume take about 20 hours or so.

We could not get the train, because it requires pre-booking, so we had to rent a car with driver for the day. It took nearly 15 hours to get to Nanded..

When we arrived we went straight to SACHKAND SAHIB and got a room in the the halls there. The room was built for foreign tourists (sangat). The room was clean with 3 single beds with mattresses, It had a geezer for hot water and a western style toilet.

The next day we hired a jeep with driver for 2 days, because there are appox 9 Gurdwaras to see. On the 1st day we saw the main Gurdwaras, Sachkand Sahib. WOW what a spiritual Gurdwara. They do Ardas 3 times a day, after Ardas they open this special room which houses artifacts from the days of Guru Gobind Singh Ji and Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji.. (the Sangat are not allowed to touch or enter this room) The artifacts are brought out and shown to all, they show a Sword and Kalangi belonging to Guru Gobind Singh Ji and a sword belonging to Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji.

Then we went to the train station to book our train to get to Punjab, afterwards we went on to see the other 6 gurdwaras around Nanded, which all have their own history.

The next day we went to a Gurdwara called Nanak Chira, which is in the next state (Karnataka). It is 200KM south of Nanded, it takes 4 hours by Jeep (one way), The roads in this state were terrible. The site the Gurdwara is built on was once visited by Guru Nanak himself, on one of his many travels.

On the 3rd day we got the Sachkand Express Train to Ludhiana in Punjab. It took 32 hours to get from Nanded to Ludhiana. There are various classes of seat, the best one to get is 'A/C 2 Tier'. Which is expensive but is very comfortable. (Which is what you need on a 32 hour train journey)


Above article with thanks to: www.sikh-history.co.uk

Nanded prepares for the 300th Anniversary in 2008

The tercentenary celebration of the Guruship of Sri Guru Granth Sahib is to be celebrated in a massive celebration next year in October 2008 at Takhat Sachkhand Shri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib in Nanded. The main Sikh Gurdwara situated in Nanded, Maharashtra is undergoing a huge rebuilding exercise to facilitate the large inflow of pilgrims for this rare and very important occasion for the Sikhs. This event is of great relevance to the worldwide Sikh Community and will involve the remembrance of the 300th years of consecration of Sri Guru Granth Sahib as the final and perpetual Guru of Sikhs as ordained by Guru Gobind Singh in 1708. The event will also commemorate the 300th anniversary of the accession of Guru Gobind Singh to his heavenly abode.

The main celebrations will be over 8 days duration and will be conducted in the month of October 2008. It is estimated that this event will attract 2,500,000-3,000,000 visitors from all over the world during the last three months of 2008.

Guru Granth Sahib in all Indian languages by 2008

Tribune Article by Ashok Sethi Amritsar, December 12

An eminent Sikh religious studies scholar, Dr Harbans Lal, said today that the Punjab Government had decided to translate Guru Granth Sahib into all Indian languages.

Talking to the Tribune on the concluding day of the fourth International Conference on Guru Granth Sahib organised by Guru Nanak Dev University, professor emeritus Harbans Lal said although the holy granth had already been translated into Hindi, Urdu, Sindhi, English, German and French, there was a need to translate it into other languages also.

Mr Harbans Lal had been appointed consultant to a Punjab government-sponsored NGO, which would be headed by Principal Jasbir Singh, a renowned Sikh resource person. He said the translation work would be completed by 2008.

Giving a brief of the four-day international conference, Dr Harbans Lal said eminent academicians and scholars of the Sikh religion had acknowledged the comprehensive history of the compilation of the Adi Granth, which stresses inter-faith character, universal message, respect for human rights, justice, peace and freedom of religious practices.

The consensus among the scholars was that the Adi Granth had visualised world peace through understanding. They felt that the ancient wisdom of the granth would be of a great value to the modern world and our civil society.

The international conference adopted 10-point guiding principles, which were endorsed by the representatives of the leading international organisations, including Mr Marcus Braybrook, President, World Congress of Faiths, Mr Tatiana Androsov, World Centre for Thanksgiving, Alfredo Sfeir Younis, World Bank, Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogi of Sikh Dharma International, Dr Inderjit Kaur, Dr Rajwant Singh of Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, Dr Harbans Lal, president of the Academy of Guru Granth Sahib Studies, Mrs Rajinderjit Kaur of the Sikh Women Association and Temple of Understanding, Mr Pritpal Singh Bindra and Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia.

The guiding principles are: to recognise the presence of the divine light in every living human being; recognise that earth is created according to God’s cosmic blueprint and is intrinsically good; God is the creator and its creative manifestation extend to all humans; it is human destiny to emulate the divine attribute, experience divinity in work and service, follow the principles of righteous living by believing in equality, dignity, justice and human behaviour that cleanse the body and the mind; to build an institution of altruism and sharing social infrastructure; to advocate for those who are most vulnerable, uphold spiritual and moral responsibility to guide politics and finally to build the world order without the culture of “mine and yours” psychology.

Travelling to Hazoor Sahib

  • Last Sunday I visited Hazoor Sahib and Gurdwara Nanak Chira by Car from HYD. Route is given below:
    Delhi to Hydrabad departure saturday morning flight, arrived in Hydrabad 0815 a.m. Hired taxi to Hazoor Sahib @ 6 Rs per K.M.(NON AC) Total K.M. Hydrabad to Nanded 290 covered in exact 5hrs,( Highway road is very good) taxes paid enroute 600/- reached in Nanded at 2.p.m stayed over night and next day went to Bidar by Taxi Total k.m 170 covered in 4 Hrs as road is very bad Nanded to Bidar. Bidar to Hyd 130 K.M covered in 3 Hrs again highway is very good...total journey by road is 600 K.M..took Sunday evening flight and came back to Delhi. ...Continue

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