TARAORI

TARAORI (29048`N, 76056`E), also pronounced Taravri, is an old walled town 12 km north of Karnal in Haryana. It claims a historical Sikh shrine known as Gurdwara Sisgahj Patshahi Navin. After the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur at Delhi on Maghar sudi 5,1732 Bk/11 November 1675, his severed head was carried to Anandpur by a Sikh named Jaita. At Taraori, on the Grand Trunk road, Bhai Jaita, who was travelling incognito, met one Deva Ram, a washerman of the local garrison, washing clothes in the tank outside the fort.

Deva Ram was a follower of the Sikh faith and knew that Guru Tegh Bahadur had gone to Delhi resolved to make the ultimate sacrifice. He enquired of Bhai Jaita as a traveller coming from Delhi if he knew what had befallen the Guru there. The latter requested Bhai Deva  Ram to escort him to his house which he willingly did. Bhai Jaita reached with his sacred charge Bhai Deva Ram\’s house, the site of the present Gurdwara Sis Gahj (formerly known as Sis Asthan). Bhai Jaita spent the night there.

After Banda Singh Bahadur had reduced Sirhind in 1710, the fort of Taraori was also occupied by the Sikhs. Attempts by the imperial force to regain its possession resulted in a bloody, but inconclusive, battle at Amingarh, 10 km north of Taraori. The Sikhs were led by Bhai Baj Singh, Ram Singh and Baba Binod Singh Trehan. According to local tradition, the bodies of the Sikh warriors who fell at Amingarh were cremated at Taraori near this site where a Mahji Sahib was later established. Upon the site of the old Mahji Sahib marking Bhai Deva Ram`s house now stands a tall five storeyed domed building the construction of which commenced in 1966.

The Guru Granth Sahib is seated on the ground floor in a sanctum, within a square hall. An adjoining bigger hall is used for holding larger assemblies. The Guru ka Langar is in a separate but adjacent compound. The sarovar, enclosed by a high wall, is. to the west between the central building of the shrine and the fort. The Gurdwara is administered by the Shiromam Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee through a local committee though further construction is the responsibility of Sant Hazara Singh, a follower of the late Sant Baba Gurmukh Singh.

References :

1. Gian Singh, Giani, Twarikh Guru Khalsa Reprintl. Patiala, 1970
2. Fauja Singh, Guru Teg Bahadur ; Yatra Asthan, Paramparavan te Yad Chinh. Patiala, 1970
3. Gurmukh Singh, Historical Sikh Shrines. Arnrilsar, 1995