JANAM SAKHI, i.e. life story, is the term used to designate traditional narratives of the life of Guru Nanak. Although the compound is occasionally applied to narratives concerning later Gurus or other religious teachers too, it is normally confined to those which relate in anecdotal prose the life and

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,

SRI SANT RATAN MAL by Bhai Lal Chand, containing biographical sketches in Punjabi of the Sevapanthi saints, completed in 1919 Bk/AD 1862 at Amritsar, was first published in 1924 and reprinted in 1954 by Bhai Hira Singh Mahant, Sevapanthi Addan Shahi Sabha, Patiala. The voluminous work, comprising 563 printed pages,

URI, an old town 54 km southwest of Baramula (S^ia`N, 74<)23`E) at the western end of the Kashmir valley, was visited by Guru Hargobind (1595-1644) on his way from Baramula to Naluchhi (now in Pakistan occupied territory). Gurdwara Patshahi Chhevin Param Pillan commemorating the visit is situated 6 km east

BATHU, village in Una district of Himachal Pradesh and 15 km west of Nangal along the Nangal Garhshankar road, has a historical shrine, Gurdwara Gurplah Patshahi Dasmi, commemorating the visit of Guru Gobind Singh in 1700. Guru Gobind Singh arrived here from Bibhaur and reposed for some time under a

CHATURBHUJ POTHI, which forms the third part of what is known as the Miharban Janam Sakhi, is the work of Sodhi Chaturbhuj, the youngest of the three sons of Sodhi Miharban (1581-1639), son of Guru Arjan\'s elder brother, Prithi Chand (1558-1618). The only known MS. of the pothi (book) preserved

DHALEO, locally called Dhalevari, village 6 km southeast of Bhikhi (30° 3`N, 75° 33`E) in Bathinda district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Tegh Bahadur who arrived here travelling from Bhikhi during his sojourn in the Malva region. It is said that as Guru Tegh Bahadur was riding towards

GATHA, title of Guru Arjan`s composition comprising twenty-four verses included in the Guru Granth Sahib. In Sanskrit writings, gdthd stands for a religious verse of non Vedic origin, a stanza or a song. In Prakrit and Buddhist traditions, the term signifies averse, a line of poetry, song, stanza or aphorism.