guru

Bara Maha Majh (Song of Twelve Months in Majh Raga) is a composition of Guru Arjan Dev,the fifth in the line of the ten Gurus or prophet-teachers of the Sikh faith. Guru Arjan Dev\'s poetry has the imprint of chaste classical culture, despite its limitation today, being in a mixture of Punjabi and Braj languages.Bara Maha is a form of folk poetry in which the yearnings of a love-lorn young woman separated from her spouse are expressed in terms of the moods of nature as they change from month to month. In Sanskrit, a poetical form of similar import was Shad ritu varnan (Sad rtu varnan) i.e., description of the six seasons. 

CHANDRA SAIN SAINAPATI, commonly referred to as Sainapati and counted among the "fifty-two poets" of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), was the son of Bal Chand, an educated Man Jatt of Lahore. His original name was Chandra Sain, Sainapati being the pseudonym he had taken. Chandra Sain, taught by one Devi Das, joined the group of Guru Gobind Singh`s poets, and rendered into Hindi verse Chanakya Niti, the well known Sanskrit treatise on statecraft and diplomacy. His Sri Gur Sobha, a versified life sketch of Guru Gobind Singh describing his major battles, the creation of the Khalsa, and events following the evacuation of Anandpur, is a work of much historical value.

CHHOTA MARVA, a village about 6 km to the west of Bilaspur in Ambala district of Haryana, has a historical shrine known as Gurdwara Golpur Sahib dedicated to Guru Gobind Singh. While at Kapal Mochan near Bilaspur in 1688, Guru Gobind Singh often went out on the chase. During one such excursion, his hawk named Golla strayed and perched on the top of a tree in this village. Some Sikhs followed and tried to induce the hawk to return but the bird would not respond.

DADU DIAL (1544-1603), ascetic and mystic, was in the line of the saints of medieval India. In his career and teaching he relived the Kablr legend. He was born in AD 1544 in Ahmedabad .in Gujarat to a Muslim couple. He had little formal education and took to his father`s profession of cotton carding. At the age of eighteen he left home and wandered extensively all over northern India. He especially consorted with the Nath yogis whose influence left a permanent mark on him. At the age of twenty-five he renounced the world and migrated to Sambhar and spent the time wandering and preaching in the country around.

DARAULI BHAI, Bhai ki Darauli, or simply Darauli, village 14 km west of Moga (30°48`N, 75° 10`E), in Faridkot district is sacred to Guru Hargobind who stayed here for fairly long periods on more than one occasion. His brotherinlaw, Bhai Sam Das, the husband of Mata Damodari`s elder sister, Mai Ramori, lived in Darauli. The couple were more than mere relations of the Guru; they were his devoted disciples and felt honoured in rendering service to him. Bhai Sam Das had built a new house, but would not occupy it until the Guru had come and stayed in it.

DESU, Jatt of Chahal clan, was a minor chief at Bhikhi, in present day Bathinda district, when Guru Tegh Bahadur visited that village travelling through the Malva region in 1672-73. As he came to see him, the Guru asked him why he carried a walking stick in his quiver. Desu replied that although he was a Hindu by birth, he was a follower of Sultan Sakhi Sarwar, and carried the stick as an emblem of that faith.

DHARMA, BHAI, a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Arjan. He received instruction at the hands of the Guru himself and learnt to repeat always the Name Vahiguru. His name occurs in the roster of devotees recorded by Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 19. See UDDA, BHAi

DIAL DAS, BHAI or Bhai Diala (d. 1675), martyr to the Sikh faith, was, according to Shahid Bilas Bhai Mani Singh, the son of Mai Das and an elder brother of Bhai Mani Ram. He was a prominent Sikh of his time and was in the train of Guru Tegh Bahadur during his journey across the eastern parts in 1665-70. He was one of the Sikhs detained and later released by the Mughal rulers in 1665. As the Guru proceeded further east from Patna, Dial Das was left behind to look after the Guru`s family.

DULEY, village in Ludhiana district, 17 km southwest from the city (30° 54`N, 75° 52`E), claims a historical shrine called Gurdwara Phalahi Sahib Patshahi 10. Guru Gobind Singh halted here awhile under a phalahi tree, while travelling from Alamgir toJodhari at the close of 1705. An imposing new gurdwara building, a large rectangular hall, has been completed recently. There is a basement below the prakash asthan representing the site of the original building, and above it is a room topped by a highdomed pavilion. Four more doublestoreyed domed pavilions surround the central pavilion.

DAULOVAL.4 km north of Kiratpur (31° ll`N, 76° 35`E) in Ropar district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Har Rai (1630-61), who used to encamp here during his visits in summer. According to local tradition, it was here that the Guru received the royal summons to see the emperor at Delhi. Gurdwara Patshahi Satvin marks the site of the Guru`s camp. Its present building raised in 1965 is a square congregation hall, with a verandah around it. The Gurdwara is managed by the local sangat.