KHIALA KALAN

KHIALA KALAN, a village 8 kin north from Mansa (29″59`N, 75″23`E) in Mansa district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Tegh Bahadur. As the Guru once arrived here, a Brahman peasant, just returned after ploughing his fields, wailed on him. The Guru asked him to fetch some Fire. He brought the fire and also a pitcher of milk. The milk was distributed among the Sikhs. The Guru blessed the Brahman saying, “Your pitchers will never be empty of milk.” He also gave him a bronze bowl which is still preserved in the family as a sacred relic. According to local tradition, the villagers complained about the scarcity of drinking water. The Guru shot an arrow and said, “Dig where the arrow falls and plant a banyan tree there.” The arrow flew over the village on to the other side. The Guru left the next morning; the villagers followed tlie instructions he had given and were ama/ed to strike sweet water on the site where his arrow had fallen. There are now three Gurudwaras in Khiala Kalah commemorating Guru Tegh Bahadur`s visit. GURDWARA PATSHAHl IX, locally called Gurdwara Mahantarivala, marking tlie site where Gujjar Ram, the Brahman, had, according to his descendants, offered milk to the Guru, is on the northern outskirts of the village. It comprises a square sanctum inside a brickpaved rectangular hall, with a verandah in front. The Gurdwara, which owns 50 acres of land originally granted by the former rulers of Patiala in whose domain Khiala Kalari lay, is under the control of the ShiromanT Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. GURDWARA BER SAHIB, close to Gurdwara Mahanianvala, lias been recently constructed around the Zwtrcc under which Guru Tegh Bahadur had sat. It is a flatroofed rectangular room in which tlie Guru Grantli Sahib is seated. The management is in hands of the local sangat. GURDWARA T1RSAR MITTHA KIItJH is near the well of sweet water [mitthd khuh in Punjabi), dug by the villagers where the hr, or arrow, shot by Guru Tegh Bahadur had fallen. Tlie old well is still in use, but the Gurdwara building has been constructed anew in recent years by the Nihangs of the Buddha Dal, who administer it. 1. Gian Singh Giani, Twnnjili. (Gurduwrian Amritsar, n.d.
2. Tara Singh, Sn Cinu Tiralh Sanyafii. Kanklial, 1975 M.G.S.