SAROVAR, a tank, pool or lake, especially at a sacred place or by a holy shrine used for sacramental ablutions and other religious ceremonies. Sanskrit synonyms are sar, sarvar, tarag and vapl. Another word is puskar or puskarini which usually means a pond full of lotus

KARSEVA, voluntary contribution of physical labour towards cleaning and construction operations at sacred tanks and temples, holds a special significance in the Sikh tradition. Sevd, altruistic service, was preached by the Gurus as a means to God realization. "One who renders selfless service attains to the Lord`s presence," says

LOPON, village 25 km southeast of Moga (30°48`N, 75"10`E) in Faridkot district, was visited by Guru Hargobind during one of his tours in these parts. Gurdwara Guru Sar on the southern outskirts of the village commemorates the event. Constructed by Giani Indar Singh of Bhindran in 1960, the present

RAQBA, village 18 km east of Jagraon (30° 47`N, 75° 28`E) in Ludhiana district, has a historical shrine in memory of Guru Hargobind, who travelled in these parts in 1632-33. The shrine is called Damdama Sahib Patshahi VI, and is located in a walled shady grove half a kilometre north

TAKHTUPURA, village 5 km east of Nihalsinghvala (30"35`N, 75"16`E) in present day Moga district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Nanak (1469-1539), Guru Hargobind (1595-1644) and Guru Gobind Single (1666-1708). Three separate shrines close to one another and collectively called Nanaksar after the name of the sarovar or sacred

TARN TARAN (31°27`N, 74°56`E), important centre of Sikh pilgrimage 24 km south of Amritsar, was founded by Guru Arjan in 1596. Six years earlier, on 13 April 1590, he had inaugurated the conversion of a natural pond lying along the DelhiLahore highway into a quadrangular tank. Digging operations on

BAZIDPUR, village 7 km southeast of Firozpur Cantonment (31° 55`N, 74° 36`E) along the FirozpurLudhiana highway, is sacred to Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), who passed through here in 1706 after the battle of Muktsar. Gurdwara Gurusar, formerly known as Tittarsar after a legendary partridge (tittar, in Punjabi), marks the

CHABBA, a village 10 km south of Amritsar (31° 38`N, 74° 52`E) along AmritsarTarn Taran road, has a historical shrine called Gurdwara Sangrana Sahib. The Gurdwara itself is so named because, according to local tradition, one of the battles (sangram in Hindi and Punjabi) of Amritsar between Guru Hargobind

GURMUKH SINGH, SANT (1849-1947), with titles such as Patialevale, Karsevavale or simply Sevavale commonly added to the name as a suffix, was born in an Arora family in 1849 at the village of Dialgarh Buna, in the princely state of Patiala. His parents, Karam Singh and Gurdet, were a

GURUSAR SATLANI, GURDWARA, 1.5 km south of the railway station named after it, is within the revenue limits of Hoshiarnagar village in Amritsar district of the Punjab. The shrine marks the spot where Guru Hargobind (1595-1644), travelling from Lahore to Amritsar, made a night`s halt near a pond. According to