ALLAHABAD

ALLAHABAD (25°28\’N, 81°50\’E). Prayag before the reign of Emperor Akbar, was visited by Guru Nanak in the course of Ills first preaching journey to the east in the first quarter of the sixteenth century. In 1666, Guru Tegh Bahadur visited the town and stayed in the house of a devotee in Mohalla Aihiyapur. Gurdwara Tap Asthan (Pakki Sarigat) Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji Patshahi 9 marks the place where Guru Tegh Bahadur had put up. It became a centre for the congregation of Sikh devotees and was called Pakki Sangat (Permanent Congregation).

Later it came to be served by Nirmala priests who still administer it. Mahant Pritam Singh (d. 1972) rebuilt the shrine in 1965. A domed two storeyed gateway leads to the divan hall where the Guru Granth Sahib is seated in a marble palaki. One of the side rooms has a large portrait of Guru Tegh Bahadur placed on a square platfrom. This is meant to mark the apartment used by the Guru as a bedroom at the time of his visit.

References :

1. Thakar Singh, Giani, Sri Gurduare Darshan. Amritsar, 1923
2. Tara Singh, Sri Gur Tirath Sangrahi. Amritsar, n.d.
3. Randhir, G.S., Sikh Shrines in India. Delhi, 1990