guru

KIRPAL CHAND, son of Bhai Lal Chand Subhikkhi and brother of Mata Gujari, mother of Guru Gobind Singh. He began his career as a soldier in Guru HarRai`s army and maintained close contact with Tcgh Bahadur during his long years of seclusion at Bakala. He was one of those who protected the Guru`s person against armed attack by the masand Shihah. He served Guru Gobind Singh as treasurer and camp organizer. While Guru Tcgh Bahadur went farther into Bengal and Assam, Kirpal Chand remained at Patna to look after the family, and later, on the way back, he escorted his newly born son, Gobind Rai, and the ladies from Patna to Anandpur.

KOT SHAMIR or Kol Shamhir, village 12 km southeast of Bathinda (30"14`N, `74°59`E) is sacred to Guru Gobind Singh, who visited here during his sojourn at Talvandi Sabo, in 1706. According to Sdkhi Potlii, BhaT Dalla, the local chieftain who was also a disciple, came to call on him. Jandalivala Tibba, a sandy mound, where according to local tradition the meeting took place, can still be seen 2 km soulli of the village. Gurdwara Patshahi Dasamt commemorating Guru Gobind Sirigli`s visit is situated on a low mound, west of the village.

KAMADHENU O dear mind, if you want the Parijata tree and also require the Kamadhenu cow bedecking your house, then engage yourself in the service of the Perfect Guru..... (Maru M. 5, p. 1078) Singing the praises of the Lord is the Kamadhenu cow. (Gauri Sukhmani M. 5, p. 265) Kamadhenu is the name of the wish-fulfilling cow. She rose from the milk-ocean, when it was churned. It belonged to sage Vasishtha and also sage Jamadagni. Whereas she fulfilled all the wishes, she also created a host of warriors, who aided Vasishtha against Kartavirya.

LAL CHAND, a confectioner turned warrior, won praise from Guru Gobind Singh for his feats in the battle of Bhangani (1688). Thus does the Guru eulogize him in his Bachitra Natak, "Wrathful became Lal Chand. His face turned red, he humbled the pride of many a lion (i.e. enemy stalwarts)." A contemporary poet Sainapati, in his brief encomium to Lal Chand in his Sri GurSobha, likens the intensity of the latter`s fighting to "a peasant harvesting his crop," or [a volunteer] "ladling out curry [during a feast]."

LUDHIANA (30°54`N, 75°52`E), one of the major cities in the Punjab, claims a historical shrine, Gurdwara Gau Ghat Patshala I, situated on the bank of the stream Buddha Nala. According to local tradition, Guru Nanak visited the site in the course of Ins travels during the early sixteenth century. The local chief, NawabJalal udDin Lodhl, living in the fort near by, came to pay obeisance and besought the Guru to save the town from erosion by the River Sutlej. Guru Nanak told him to be sympathetic and just towards his subjects and to leave the rest to God.

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, Varan.. XXV. 33, he, for a time, turned against Guru Arjan at the instigation of his elder brother, Prithi Chand. Baba Mahadev died at Goindval on 4 Bhadon 1662 Bk/3 August 1605.

MAISAR KHANA, an old village 10 km west of Maur Kalan (30°4\'N, 75°14\'E) in the Bathinda district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Tegh Bahadur, who, during his travels in these parts, made a brief halt here by the side of a small pool, called Maisar. To mark the spot where the Guru had alighted from his horse, Sikhs raised a platform over which a Gurdwara was later constructed. The present Gurdwara Sahib Patshahi Nauvin, built in the 1970\'s still preserves the old platform in the basement. Over it stands the sanctum within a square hall, with a verandah on three sides.

MANAK CHAND JIVARA, a Patharia Khatri of the village of Vairoval, now in Amritsar district of the Punjab, was a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Amar Das. He lovingly contributed the labour of his hands to digging the Baoli, or open well with steps going down to water level, at Goindval. In the course of digging, Sikhs came across a stratum of hard rock. As the last layer was in the end pierced, water suddenly gushed forth drowning Manak Chand who had struck the final blow. There was great commotion among the Sikhs standing around the well.

MANSA DEVI, MATA (d. 1569), wife of Guru Amar Das (1479-1574), was the daughter of Bhai Dev Chand, a Bahil Khatri of Sankhaira, a small town in Sialkot district (now in Pakistan). Her marriage to (Guru) Amar Das took place on 11 Magh 1559 Bk/ 8 January 1503, but the couple remained childless until a girl, Dam, was born to them in 1530 followed by three more children, Bhani(1535), Mohan (1536) and Mohri (1539). Mata Mansa Devi died at Goindval in 1569.

MAU, village 10 km west of Phillaur (3101`N, 75°47`E) in the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Arian, who was married here to (Mata) Gariga Devi, daughter of a local resident, Krishan Chand, on 22 Har 1646 Bk19 June 1589. Gurdwara Patshahl V, popularly known as Gurdwara Mau Sahib, raised in honour of Guru Arjan, is located 1/2 km northwest of the village. The sanctum within the hall where the Guru Granth Sahib is scaled has below it an underground room, called Bhora Sahib.