LUDHIANA

LUDHIANA (30°54`N, 75°52`E), one of the major cities in the Punjab, claims a historical shrine, Gurdwara Gau Ghat Patshala I, situated on the bank of the stream Buddha Nala. According to local tradition, Guru Nanak visited the site in the course of Ins travels during the early sixteenth century. The local chief, NawabJalal udDin Lodhl, living in the fort near by, came to pay obeisance and besought the Guru to save the town from erosion by the River Sutlej. Guru Nanak told him to be sympathetic and just towards his subjects and to leave the rest to God.

Only a platform called Thara Sahib existed here to commemorate the Guru`s visit until a proper building was constructed in 1972-73. The present building is a small rectangular hall in front of a flatroofed sanctum where two volumes of the Guru Granth Sahib are placed side by side. A sarovar has since been added by diverting the Buddha Nala and reclaiming part of what used to lie its bed once upon a time. The Gurdwara is affiliated to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parhandhak Committee and is managed by a local committee.