History, Importance, Timings, Festivals, Architecture, Social & Religious Activities, Interesting Facts, Best time to Visit and Travel Guide of Gurudwara Shri Nada Sahib, Panchkula, Haryana, India
A hallmark of Sikh culture’s servitude, Gurudwara Nada Sahib in Panchkula, serves as one of the most imperative Sikh pilgrimage sites in the state of Haryana. Situated on the bank of the Ghaggar River, the region around the Sikh place of worship is famous for its association with the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, a great spiritual master warrior, poet and philosopher. The place has become synonymous with Sikh culture with community meals served daily to ensure nobody sleeps hungry ever. This high spirit of humanity has not only spread in the city but also has become the typical characteristic of the place over time. This also attracts thousands of pilgrims every day.
Actual establishments of the Sikh temple do not have a clear history and remain debatable. But it is believed that Guru Gobind Singh rested at the place after emerging victorious in the 1688’s Battle of Bhangani. A native of the adjoining settlement named Nadu Shah Lubana on knowing that the Guru has arrived here with his set of followers, he left no stone unturned to welcome Him and served them with food and milk. The compassion and great hospitality of Nadu Shah was appreciated by the Guru, who in good faith blessed him that this place would be called on his name, where peoples’ wishes will be fulfilled and service to humanity prevail in everybody.
The place actually remained ambiguous until a devout of the nearby village Bhai Motha Singh discovered the sacred spot and decided to raise a platform in reverence of the memory of the Guru’s visit, making it perpetual to Panchkula. Unfortunately, no further knowledge is known of Motha Singh nor any specific date of the establishment of the Manji Sahib is evident. The only available information we have is that the shrine was under the management of Dharmarth Board of Patiala and East Punjab States Union in 1948, which was later taken over by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee when the Union merged with the state of Punjab in 1956.
The Gurudwara represents the Sikh ideology and values in its every marble. From compassion to service to humanity, the Gurudwara is an open place for all people irrespective of religion, caste, creed, gender or race. Community langars are served in the afternoons and evenings. Anyone can volunteer to help in the Great Kitchen which prepares the meals. These volunteers come from all spheres of life for servitude and feed the people in need regardless of any basis of discrimination. The complex has numerous restrooms for people without shelter and gives a feeling that the place is their own.
The Gurudwara complex is open for all days of the week, during all hours. It has a community langar hall which serves meals to everybody and even has restrooms for the visitors from different states.
The earlier Manji Sahib has now been substituted by a double storeyed domed structure. A large rectangular meeting hall lies adjacent to it and serves the meeting point of devotees gathering and singing hymns (shabd) in unison. An extensive brick-paved court separates the main buildings from the complex. This area comprises the Guru Ka Langar, where community meals are offered and prepared and the rooms for travellers, and people without shelter. The complex’s halls and room due to its white marble structures remain a cooler place throughout summers and is a comfortable place to relax in the evening.
Religious gatherings and prayers take place every day. Monthly, the full moon day is a big event celebration at the Gurudwara, which gets attended by a large number of people from the North India.
How to Reach Nada Sahib Gurudwara, Panchkula, Haryana, India
The Gurudwara’s accessibility is very convenient from the Panchkula Railway Junction. Panchkula being one of the major city and district of Haryana, India, thus it is very well connected with all major cities of India via road, rail and air network. As Panchkula is just 11 km from Chandigarh and 19 km from Mohali you can get flights to various cities like Delhi, Bengalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune etc. Also Panchkula is well connected with railway network which connects to all major cities of India. Panchkula is very well connected with all other cities of the country by roads through national highway or the state highway. Panchkula is located at 104 km from Shimla, 250 km from Delhi.
