JHANDA RAMDAS

JHANDA RAMDAS. popularly called Ramdas, a village in Amritsar district of the Punjab, celebrates Baba Buddha of revered memory in the Sikh tradition. His son, Bhai Bhana, founded this village and named it after his own grandson, Jhanda, and the family shifted here from their ancestral village ofKatthu Narigal. The longlived Baba Buddha himself had spent most of his time at the feet of the Gurus, from Guru Nanak to Guru Hargobind, but he would occasionally come to visit his family at Jhanda Ramdas. The last few months of his life were spent in this village. As the end came near, he longed to have a glimpse of the Guru. Guru Hargobind did arrive at Jhanda Ramdas before Baba Buddha died, on Maghar sudi4, 1688 Bk/16 November 1631. The Guru himself performed the last rites. Three gurudwaras now commemorate the Guru`s visit and the passing away of Baba Buddha. GURDWARA BUNGA SAHIB, 200 metres east of the village, marks the site where Guru Hargobind had encamped. From here he, according to the local tradition, went barefoot to see Baba Buddha. GURDWARA SAMADIIAN, about one kilometre northeast of Jhanda Ramdas, was built on the site of the cremation of Baba Buddha. Guru Hargobind gave his shoulder to the bier, put the flame to the pyre and collected the ashes on the fourth day after the cremation. GURDWARA TAP ASTIIAN BABA BUDDHA JI, on the southern edge of the village, stands where the venerable family had once lived and where Baba Buddha had died. It is said that the Lahore troops sackedJhanda Ramdas in 1824 and destroyed the house of Baba Buddha`s descendants. When Maharaja Ranjil Singh heard of this, he was filled with remorse. He then had this gurudwara built on the site of the demolished house. The Gurdwara stands on a raised plinth in the middle of a walled compound which is below the street level. It comprises a square sanctum, with a verandah all around. The floor is of white marble and the walls are lined with marble slabs. The interior surface of the wallls as well as the ceiling is decorated with stucco work inset with reflecting glass pieces and painted artistically in gold, red and blue. The Guru Granth Sahib is seated on a canopied throne of white marble. The Gurdwara is managed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. It owns 2,200 acres of land. Besides the daily prayers and the usual Sikli anniversaries, largely attended gatherings take place on the fifth day of the dark half of each lunar month.