Guru Ram Das

01From Chuna Mandi to Goindwal

Jetha was born in the Chuna Mandi quarter of Lahore, where a gurdwara now marks the house. Orphaned young, he was brought up by his grandmother at Basarke and sold ghunghnian, boiled wheat, in the streets. He went with a group of pilgrims to Goindwal, stayed to serve in the building of the baoli, and so impressed Guru Amar Das with his humility that the Guru gave him his younger daughter, Bibi Bhani, in marriage. In 1574 he was chosen as Guru and took the name Ram Das, servant of Ram.

02The tank of nectar

On land in the Majha country, Guru Ram Das had a tank dug and a town laid out around it, settling traders and craftsmen from fifty-two trades. The town was called Ramdaspur or Guru ka Chak; the tank, Amritsar, the pool of amrit, in time gave its name to the whole city. In the centre his son Guru Arjan would raise the Harmandir Sahib. Guru Ram Das composed the four Lavan, the hymns sung as the couple walks around the Guru Granth Sahib at a Sikh wedding. He passed the guruship to his youngest son Arjan and died at Goindwal in 1581.

Place · Settled c. 1552 under Guru Amar Das; the baoli of 84 steps dug in the 1550sGoindwal SahibThe town on the Beas where Guru Amar Das made his seat, dug the baoli of 84 steps and made the langar a rule for every visitor. Guru Arjan was born here in 1563, and Akbar crossed the Beas here and visited him in 1598.Read →