Historical Sikh Shrines

Sikh Gurus were great travelers, preachers and organizers. Wherever they went they advised their followers to organize themselves in sangats and to build dharamsals for congregational prayers. Sikh chronicles record places consecrated by the Gurus with their presence. Bhai Gurdas sang about dharamsal in every (Sikh) home. Some of them were perhaps lost in the vicissitudes of history, but many survived and became places of pilgrimage for the devotees. More or less comprehensive lists of them that appeared during the Singh Sabha period are all in Punjabi and list the shrines under each Guru to whom they are respectively related. The present work listing them regionwise is intended to serve the twin objects of reaching the English knowing non-Punjabi public and of being useful to prospective pilgrims and visitors in planning their itineraries for all shrines in one or the other particular region. Some maps and pictures provide additional help. Efforts have also been made to update the account in the light of fresh researches. About the Author Since his retirement from the Army Educational Corps in 1976 after 36-year long service, Major Gurmukh Singh has been working on the editorial staff of Encyclopaedia of Sikhism under preparation at the Punjabi University, Patiala with Professor Harbans Singh as its Editor-in-Chief. The author's initial assignment was to personally visit and survey historical Gurdwaras all over the country.