MATTAN

MATTAN, an old town 4 km east of Anantnag (33°44`N, 75°13`E) in Kashmir, is sacred to Guru Nanak, who visited the valley during his journey to the north at the beginning of the sixteenth century. According to the Purdtanjanam Sdkhi, he held a long discourse with a learned Brahman, Brahm Das, who turned a disciple. As local tradition holds, this discourse was held at Mattan under a chindr tree (Palatanus orientalis) which still stands in the precincts of the shrine established to commemorate the Guru`s visit and now known as Gurdwara Nanaksar Patshahl Pahili.

The present building of the shrine raised during the 1890\’s replacing the older one constructed by Sardar Hari Singh Nalva of Sikh times, comprises a rectangular hall, with the sanctum at the far end. A separate room to the north of the central building serves as Guru ka Larigar. The Gurdwara is affiliated to the Jammu and Kashmir Gurdwara Prabandhak Board and is managed through its district unit. An old handwritten biror copy of the Guru Granth Sahib containing 732 folios is preserved in the Gurdwara.

References :

1. Vir Singh, Bhai, ed., Puratan Janam Sakhi. Amritsar, 1982
2. Santokh Singh, Bhai, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth. Amritsar, 1927-35
3. Gian Singh, Giani, Twarikh Guru Khalsa [Reprint]. Patiala, 1970