DHARAMSALA or dharamsala from Sanskrit dharmasala, lit. court of justice, tribunal, charitable asylum, religious asylum, stands in Punjabi for a place of worship or the village hospice. Dharamsala as a Sikh institution is the precursor of gurdwara (q.v.). According to janam sakhis, accounts of the life of Guru Nanak (1469-1539).

JASPAT RAI (d. 1746), a native of Kalanaur, in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab, was during Mughal times the faujddr of Eminabad, now in Gujrariwala district of Pakistan. A weal thy ^fl^m/ar and an influential courtier of Zakanya Khan, the governor of Lahore, he once ransomed Lakhpat Rai, his

PALAHI, village 4 km north of Phagwara (31° 14`N, 75° 46`E) in the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Hargobind, who passed through it in 1635 on his way from Kartarpur to Kiratpur. According to the Bhatt Vaht Talaudd, a skirmish between the Mughal troops and the Guru`s followers, generally

This Gurdwara is situated at the place where Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji stayed for some time. It is believed that when Guruji left this place the standing sugarcane crop in the village caught fire. An elderly man told the villagers that Guruji had come to the village but was not

DIWAN KHANA GURUDWARA, LAHORE:This Gurdwara is situated near Chuni Mandi chowk, close to the birth place of Guru Ram Das ji. The Guru\'s ancestors belonged to Lahore. At the time of the marriage of one the sons his elder brother, Sahari Mal, the Guru asked his son (Guru) Arjan Dev

JHANDA, BHAI, of the village of Dalla, now in Kapurthala district of the Punjab, was a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Amar Das. He was among those who waited on the Guru when he visited Dalla. Among the visitors was also a learned Pandit. He undertook to serve

PANJA SAHIB, GURDWARA, at Hasan Abdal (33° 48`N, 72° 44`E) in Attock (or Campbellpore) district of Pakistan Punjab, is sacred to Guru Nanak, who briefly stopped here on his way back to the Punjab from his western uddsi or journey which took him as far West as Mecca and

FARID, SHAIKH (569-664 AH/AD 1173-1265), Sufi mystic and teacher, who is also known to be the first recorded poet in the Punjabi language. His father Shaikh Jamaluddin Sulaiman whose family related, according to current tradition, to the rulers of Kabul by ties of blood, left his home in Central Asia

JITOJI, MATA, the first wife of Guru Gobind Singh who died in 1700, was the daughter of Bhai Hari Jas, a Subhikkhi Khatn of Lahore. The betrothal had taken place in 1673. The father in law had desired that the bridegroom should come at the head of a marriage

PATNA (25° 37`N, 85°10`E), ancient Pataliputra, now capital of Bihar state, is one of the most sacred places of pilgrimage for Sikhs. It is the birthplace of their Tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, and one of their seats of high religious authority. For this reason it is designated a

BUNGA, 5 km south of Kiratpur Sahib (31 °10`N, 76t)35`E) in Ropar district of the Punjab, claims a historical shrine Gurdwara Bunga Sahib, also called Chubachcha Sahib, dedicated to Guru Har Rai. Guru Har Rai, Nanak VII, complying with his predecessor`s instruction, continued to maintain at Kiratpura body of

GAGGOBUA, village 27 km southwest of Amritsar (31°38\'N, 74°52\'E) along the Amritsar Khemkaran road, is sacred to Guru Hargobind (1595-1644), who came here once following the chase. Gurdwara Manji Sahib Chhevin Patshahi, constructed at the site of the old shrine, marks the spot where Guru Hargobind had halted. The