GOINDVAL (31°22`N, 75"9`E), the first ever place of Sikh pilgrimage so designated by its founder, Guru Amar Das. This in fact was the spot where the ancient eastwest highway crossed the River Beas. With the renovation of the highway by Sher Shall Sur, the Afghan ruler of north India

GURDAS, BHAI (1551-1636), much honoured in Sikh learning and piety, was a leading figure in early Sikhism who enjoyed the partronage of Guru Arjan under whose supervision he inscribed the first copy of Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, which is still extant. He was born in a Bhalla

KABUL VALI MAI. or the Lady from Kabul, is the name chroniclers have given to a woman who rendered devoted service during the digging of the bdoH at Goindval under the supervision of Guru Amar Das. Day after day, says Sarup Das Bhalla, Mahimd Prakdsh, she toiled away at the

KHEDA, BHAI, a Brahman resident of Khem Karan, in present day Amritsar district, was a devout Sikh of the time of Guru Amar Das. According to Sarup Das Bhalla, Mahimd Prakdsh, Kheda was initially a staunch worshipper of the goddess Durga and regularly went on pilgrimage to Javalamukhi. Once,

MAHADEV, BABA (1560-1605), the second son of Guru Ram Das (1534-81) and Mata Bhani, was born on 1 June 1560 at Goindval, in present-day Amritsar district of the Punjab. As he grew up, he displayed little interest in worldly affairs and remained occupied in meditation. According to Bhai Gurdas,

MAI DAS, a Vaisnavite sadhu of the village of Narli, now in Amritsar district of the Punjab, embraced Sikh faith at the hands of Guru Amar Das. As a wandering sadhu, he once visited Goindval and desired to meet the Guru, but since he was unable to comply with

MANOHAR DAS. BHAI, a great grandson of Guru Amar Das and a distant cousin of Guru Hargobind, was a devoted Sikh, known for his piety and humility. He had been brought up by Guru Arjan himself. As he grew up, he started performing kirtan at Gurdwara Chaubara Sahib and

MOHAN, BABA (b. 1536), the elder son of Guru Amar Das, was born to Mata Mansa Devi at Basarke Gillan, near Amrtisar, in 1536. He was of a taciturn disposition and most of the time kept to his room in Goindval absorbed in study and contemplation. He had in

ALLAYAR, a wealthy Muslim horse dealer of Delhi, who turned a preacher of Sikhism, first came to Guru Amar Das at Goindval escorted by Bhai Paro, a prominent Sikh of Dalla, a village in present day Kapurthala district of the Punjab. It is said that returning from Kabul once

POTHIAN, BABA MOHAN VALIAN, manuscript copies {pothidn, lit. books), in Gurmukhi script, containing some of the compositions of the first three Gurus and eight medieval saints, which, according to Sikh tradition. Guru Arjan (1563-1606) obtained from Baba Mohan, the elder son of the Third Guru, Amar Das, and which

AMAR DAS, GURU (1479-1574), the third of the ten Gurus of the Sikh faith, was born into a Bhalla Khatri family on Baisakh sudi 14, 1536 Bk, corresponding to 5 May 1479, at Basarke, a village in present day Amritsar district of the Punjab. His father\'s name was Tej Bhan

SAVAN MALL, a nephew of Guru Amar Das, was pious and accomplished Sikh. As Guru Amar Das, after having been installed Guru by Guru Angad, moved from Khadur to Goindval, a number of his followers came to reside there, necessitating the construction of many new houses. To procure timber