SAMANA

SAMANA (30`11 `N, 76″11`E), an old historic town 30 km southwest of Patiala, was visited by Guru Tegh Bahadur, who arrived here from Saifabad, now Bahadurgarh. A troop of imperial soldiers had been in pursuit of him and, to afford him a safe asylum, Muhammad Bakhsh, a local Muslim noble of Sufi leanings who is said to have already met the Guru at Saifabad, took him to his own house in Garhi Nazir 3 km away. The Guru had thus stayed at Samana only for a short while.

In 1709, Banda Singh Bahadur attacked and destroyed vengefully the town which had supplied headsmen for the execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur and the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh. The only Sikh shrine in Samana was established but in the recent decades. It is called Gurdwara Thara Sahib and marks the site where Guru Tegh Bahadur is supposed to have halted before being escorted to Garhi Nazir. The Gurdwara, a modern flat roofed building with a small sarovar attached to it, is managed by the Nihangs.

References :

1. Gian Singh, Giani, Twarikh Guru Khalsa [Reprint]. Patiala, 1970
2. Fauja Singh, Guru Teg – Bahadur: Yatra Asthan, Paramparavan te Yad Chinh. Patiala, 1976