MANMAD

MANMAD (20°10`N, 74°28`E), is a small town in the Nasik district of Maharashtra. It is a railway junction on the Central Railway, 260 km northeast of Bombay to which it is also connected by road, via Chandor and Deolali. Pilgrims from the north coming to visit the Sikh shrines at Nanded change trains here. Gurdwara Guptsar Sahib was built at Manmad by Sant Baba Nidhan Singh in 1931, primarily for the pilgrims visiting Nanded.

Tradition has grown over the years connecting the site with story of two Maratha chiefs, Bala Rao and Rustam Rao, of Jinvada near Bidar, whose release from Satara is said to have been secured miraculously by Guru Gobind Singh during the latter\’s stay at Nanded. The Gurdwara compound is entered through a simple doublestoreyed gateway. To the left of the courtyard is the large divan hall, with a platform for the Guru Granth Sahib in the eastern part of it.

The threestoreyed building has a central dome on top and smaller decorative domes at the corners. The walls of the hall are lined with white marble slabs with grey streaks up to midheight. The walls further up are inlaid with multicoloured glass pieces and reflecting mirrors arranged in geometrical patterns. The roof of the hall is made up of glazed tiles in different shades and the floor is paved with marble. Religious services are held morning and evening and the langar is open almost all day and night. Pilgrims visit in large numbers at the time of Dussehra and Hola Mahalla festivals.

References :

1. Sahi, Joginder Singh, Sikh Shrines in India and Abroad. Faridabad, 1978