EMINABAD (32°2`N, 74°16`E), an ancient town in Gujranwala district of Pakistan, is sacred to Guru Nanak (1469-1539) in whose day it was called Sayyidpur. According to Bhai Bala Janam Sakhi, after leaving Sultanpur and before setting out on his long travels, Guru Nanak, accompanied by Bhai Mardana, first visited

GOINDVAL (31°22`N, 75"9`E), the first ever place of Sikh pilgrimage so designated by its founder, Guru Amar Das. This in fact was the spot where the ancient eastwest highway crossed the River Beas. With the renovation of the highway by Sher Shall Sur, the Afghan ruler of north India

GURU KA LAHORE, a town in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, 12 km north of Anandpur Sahib associated with the matrimony of Guru Gobind Singh. In 1673 Bhai Hari Jas, a Subhikkhl Khatri of Lahore, had while on a visit to Anandpur betrothed his daughter Jito to him and

HIRA SINGH, SANT (d. 1949). head priest of Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib Abchal Nagar, Nandcd, in Maharashtra, was born the son of Bhai Karam Singh of Schna, in Sarigrur district of the Punjab. He received his early education and religious instruction in his village and this allowed him to

JAIDEV (JAYADEVA), saint and poet, two of whose hymns are incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib, is chiefly known to the literary world as the author of the Gita Govinda, a lyrical poem in which the love of Radha (soul or devotee) for Govinda (the Supreme Being) is described

JODH SINGH RAMGARHIA (d. 1815), soldier and feudatory chief in Sikh times, was the eldest son of Jassa Singh, the celebrated Ramgarhia Sardar. Ranjil Singh bound himself in a pledge of friendship with Jodh Singh Ramgarhia before the Guru Granth Sahib at Darbar Sahib, Amrilsar. The Maharaja had great

KUSAL DAS, BHAI (early 19th century), was a minor poet in attendance upon Didar Das, a lineal descendant of Baba Prithi Chand, the eldest son of Guru Ram Das. Kusal Das composed 653 verses in Kabitt and savaiyyd forms, panegyrizing the preceptors of the Mina sect founded by Baba

MACHHIVARA (30°-55\'N, 76°-12\'E), now a small town in Ludhiana district, figures prominently in the last phase of Guru Gobind Singh\'s life. As the Guru arrived here after leaving Chamkaur on the night of 7 December 1705, he stopped first in a garden outside the village. Here Bhai Man Singh,

MARU VAR, Guru Arjan`s composition in the Maru musical measure in the Guru Granth Sahib. Traditionally, Maru which gives the Vdr its title is elegiac verse and is commonly sung in the afternoon. This measure has a martial undertone as well. The singing of Maru rdga with devotion annuls

NANAKIANA SAHIB, GURDWARA, near the village of Mangval, 4 km east of Sangrur (30° 14`N, 75° 50`E) in the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Nanak and Guru Hargobind. When Guru Nanak came here in the early sixteenth century, the village of Mangval was, according to local tradition, closer to the

NISHCHAL SINGH, PANDIT SANT (1882-1978), widely respected holy man, preacher of Sikhism and head of the Sevapanthi sect of the Sikhs (1950-78), was born on 18 April 1882, the son of Bhai Amir Singh and Mat Piar Kaur, a pious couple of Mittha Tiwana in Shahpur (Sargodha) district of

PARMANAND, a Maharashtrian saintpoet, one of whose hymns is included in the Guru Granth Sahib. Born probably in 1483, he is believed to have resided at Barsi, situated to the north of Pandharpur, in present day Sholapur district of Maharashtra. Parmanand was a devotee of Visnu and used in his