UDA, BHAl (d. 1688), a Sikh of the Rathaur Rajput clan, was among those who had witnessed Guru Tegh Bahadur`s execution at Delhi. He returned in distress to Dilvali Mohalla where Sikhs from the neighbourhood assembled in the house of Bhai Nanu, the calico printer, to consider how they could recover the Guru`s body and cremate it. They decided to seek assistance from Bhai Lakkhi Shah, an affluent trader and a Sikh by faith.
VARAN BHAI GURDAS is the title given to the collection of forty vars or "ballads" written in`Punjabi by Bhai Gurdas (d. 1636) much honoured in Sikh piety and learning. These forty vars comprise 913 pauris or stanzas, with a total of 6,444 lines. There is no internal or external evidence available to determine the exact time of the composition of these vars, but it can be assumed that vars (Nos. 3,11,13,24,26,38,39) which have references to Guru Hargobind who came into spiritual inheritance in 1606 after the death of Guru Arjan, his predecessor, might have been composed sometime after that year, and the others implicitly prior to that date.
ACHAL SAHIB, GURDWARA. sacred to Guru Nanak, is located on the boundary of Salho and Chahal villages along the Jalandhar Batala road, 6 km south of Batala (31M9\'N, 75°12\'E) in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab. The low mound on which the Gurdwara is situated, in close proximity of the ancient Hindu temple dedicated to Kartikeya, son of Lord Shiva, is popularly known as Achal Vatala. The Achal temple had since old times been a place of pilgrimage visited by sadhus from distant parts, especially during the annual fair held on the occasion of Sivaratri festival.
AKAL MURATI, a composite term comprising akal (non temporal) and murati (image or form), occurring in the Mul Mantra, the root formula or fundamental creed of the Sikh faith as recorded at the beginning of the Japu, composition with which the Guru Granth Sahib opens, literally means `timeless image`. Elsewhere, in the compositions of Guru Ram Das (GG, 78), and Guru Arjan (GG, 99, 609, 916 and 1082), the expression Akal Murati reinforces the original meaning of Divine Reality that is beyond the process of time, and yet permeates the cosmic forms. The non temporal Being transcends the space time framework and, as such, is Formless. However, in its manifest aspect, the same Being assumes the cosmic Form.