PHARALA, village 11 km northeast of Phagwara (31°14`N, 75°46`E),`but falling in Jalandhar district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Har Rai (1630-1661), who halted here briefly during his journey from Kartarpur to Kiratpur. Gurdwara Guru Har Rai Sahib, in the northeastern part of the village, is an old

TEJA SINGH AKARPURI, JATHEDAR (1892-1975), an active figure in Gurdwara Reform movement, was born at Akarpura, a village 13 km northwest of Batala (31°49`N, 75"12`E), in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab. His father was Pala Singh and mother Partap Kaur. He matriculated from Khalsa Collegiate School, Amritsar, in 1911,

AKALI DAL, CENTRAL, a political organization of the Sikhs set up in March 1934 as a parallel body to the Shiromani Akali Dal. The latter was formed on 14 December 1920 to assist the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in its campaign for the reformation of the management of the

GARGAJJ AKALI JATHA (gargajj = rever beratingly thunderous) was the name given a dynamic group (jathd) of Akali reformers, especially active in Majha region of the Punjab. The Jatha came into being on 19 April 1921, splintering from the parent body Central Majha Khalsa Diwan. Teja Singh Bhuchchar, Jathedar

LABH SINGH. BABU (1895-1947), Akali politician, was born in 1895 at the village of Lasara, in Jalandhar district, the son of Dula Singh. He spent his early youth at Quetta and passed his Matriculation examination from the high school there. In 1914, he took up service in the army

PHATTE NANGAL, village near Dhanval (31"57`N, 75°19`E) in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab, claims a historical shrine Gurdwara Burj Sahib, marking the spot where Guru Arjan, returning from a visit to Baba Sri Chand at Barath, stayed near what used to he a pond. The devotees, who flocked to

TEJA SINGH BHUCHCHAR (1887-1939) , one of the pioneers of the Gurdwara reform movement in the 1920`s was the eldest son of Mayya Singh and Mahitab Kaur, of the village of Bhuchchar Khurd, 25 km from Tarn Taran, in Amritsar district. He was born on 28 October 1887 at

AKALI DAL, SHIROMANI (shiromani= exalted, foremost in rank; dal = corps, of akali volunteers who had shed fear of death), the premier political party of the modern period of Sikhism seeking to protect the political rights of the Sikhs, to represent them in the public bodies and legislative councils being

GOPAL SINGH (1883-1941), an Akali reformer, was born in November 1883 at the village of Sagari, in Rawalpindi district, now in Pakistan. His father, Sundar Singh (d. 1895) was a small shopkeeper. Within three years of Gopal Singh`s father`s death, his two elder brothers also passed away and the

LACHHMAN SINGH GILL (1917-1969), Akali politician and chief minister of the Punjab for a brief term, was born at Jagraon in Ludhiana district. He started life in 1937 as a government contractor. He entered politics via the Shiromani Akali Dal of which he became a member during the Punjabi

RAJO MAJRA, a village 6 km west of Dhuri (30° 22`N, 75° 53`E) in Sarigrur district of the Punjab, claims a historical shrine. Gurdwara Nauviri Patshahi, commemorating the visit of Guru Tegh Bahadur, situated about 200 metres east of the village, comprises a Mariji Sahib constructed by Maharaja Karam

THAKAR SINGH, DOCTOR (1885-1945), a Ghadr activist who also took part in the Akali movement of 1920-25, was the son of Sher Singh of Ikulaha, a village 6 km southwest of Kharina (30"42`N, 76°13`E) in Ludhiana district of die Punjab. He was an undergraduate at Khalsa College, Amritsar, when he