GURDWARA SHAHIDGANJ BABA GURBAKHSH SINGH, a small shrine standing in a narrow bazar behind the Akal Bunga, commemorates the saga of heroism of Baba Gurbakhsh Singh Nihang and his twenty-nine comrades who faced a Durrani horde in December 1764 and fell to the last man fighting in defence of the

TOSHAKHANA, from Persian toshakhanah (toshah = food or provisions for journey or food articles in general+ khana = house, store) or tosha khana (toshak = bedding, clothing + khana) means in Punjabi a treasury or secured storehouse for valuables. It is now generally used for the

VALLA, village 7 km east of Amritsar (31°38`N, 74°53`E) along the Amritsar Sri Hargobindpur road, is sacred to Guru Tegh Bahadur, who visited here in November 1664. According to Bhai Santokh Singh, Sri Gur Pratap Sura/` Granth, the Guru had come on a visit to the Harimandar, Amritsar, but

AMRITSAR (31°38\'N, 74°53\'E), principal holy city of the Sikhs, is the headquarters of a district (Amritsar) in the Punjab. The foundation of the town was laid in 1577 by Guru Ram Das (1534-81) when he inauguarted the digging of the holy tank Amritsar (amrit = nectar, sar = pool)

AJAIB, BHAI, a Sangha Jatt who embraced the Sikh faith in the time of Guru Arjan. He belonged to the village of Darauli Bhai, in presentday Faridkot district. Two of his brothers, Umar Shah and Ajab, were the Guru`s masands or vicars. Bhai Ajaib took part in seva, voluntary

BUNGAS The word bunga is derived from the Persian bungah meaning a hospice, or a dwelling place. In the Sikh tradition, the word specifically refers to the dwelling places and mansions which grew up around the Harimandar at Amritsar and at other centres of Sikh pilgrimage. These were primarily the

CHAUNKI or Chauki, lit. quarter, a four footed wooden platform upon which sat the holy choir to recite the sacred hymns in a gurdwara or at a gathering of the devotees. The term chaunki also refers to a session of kirtan or hymn singing, the number of singers at such

DES RAJ. BHAI, a Khatri Sikh of Amritsar, was entrusted with the supervision of the reconstruction of the Harimandar during the sixties and seventies of the eighteenth century. Nothing is known about his early life or family except that he originally came from Sursingh village, 30 km southwest of

GURDITTA, BABA (1613-1638), the eldest son of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644), was born on 15 November 1613 to Mata Damodari at Darauli Bhai in present day Faridkot district of the Punjab. He had his training in religious lore and in the martial arts under the supervision of his father. He

HARIMANDAR (lit. the House of God; hari = Visnu, or God; mandar = temple, house), Golden Temple to the English speaking world, is the Sikhs` most famous sacred shrine. Also called Sri Darbar Sahib (the Exalted Holy Court), it lies in the heart of the city of

MASSE KHAN RANGHAR (d. 1740), a Rarighar Rajput landlord converted to Islam, belonged to the village of MandialT, 8 km south of Amritsar. He was appointed kotwdl of Amritsar by Zakariya Khan, the Mughal governor of Lahore (1726-45), after the death of Qazi `Abdur Rahman who had met his end

MINA, meaning hypocritical, secretive, rnean natured, deceitful, is an epithet applied in the Sikh tradition to Prithi Chand (1558-1618), the eldest son of Guru Ram Das, and such of his descendants as had not joined the main body of the Sikhs. There is also a community confined mainly to