Guru Har Krishan

01Called to Delhi

Har Krishan was born at Kiratpur, the younger son of Guru Har Rai, and was installed as Guru in 1661. His elder brother Ram Rai, disowned by their father, appealed to Aurangzeb, and the emperor called the child to Delhi. The Guru stayed in the bungalow of Raja Jai Singh of Amber, near Raisina. Sikh tradition says he refused to show himself to the emperor. A katha is told of Panjokhara on the way, where a proud pandit mocked the boy and the Guru had a mute water-carrier explain the Gita to him.

02Bangla Sahib

That year smallpox and cholera ran through Delhi. The child Guru went among the sick, Hindu and Muslim alike, and the water of the well at Jai Singh’s bungalow was given to them. He caught the disease himself. On his deathbed, on 30 March 1664, unable to say more, he spoke the words Baba Bakale, meaning that the next Guru would be found at the village of Bakala. That was his grand-uncle, Tegh Bahadur. The bungalow became Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, and its sarovar is still taken home by devotees as healing water.

Place · Indraprastha of the Pandavas; Lal Kot c. 1052 by the Tomara Anangpal; many cities sinceDelhi (Indraprastha)The Pandavas’ Indraprastha stood on the Yamuna where the Purana Qila now stands, and the Tomaras and Chauhans built the first walled Delhi at Mehrauli. Seven or more cities have risen on the same ground since.Read →