Anandpur Sahib Anandpur | |
|---|---|
City | |
 Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib  Anandpur Skyline | |
| Nickname: Chak Nanaki | |
 Interactive map of Anandpur Sahib | |
| Coordinates:31°14′06″N76°29′56″E / 31.234961°N 76.498808°E /31.234961; 76.498808 | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Punjab |
| District | Rupnagar |
| Established | 1665 CE |
| Founded by | Guru Tegh Bahadur |
| Government | |
| • MLA | Harjot Singh Bains (AAP) |
| • MP | Malvinder Singh Kang (AAP) |
| Elevation | 311 m (1,020 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 16,282 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Punjabi |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 140118 |
| 01887 | 91-1887 |
| Vehicle registration | PB 16 |
| Nearest city | Kiratpur Sahib |
Anandpur Sahib, also referred simply asAnandpur (lit. 'city of bliss'), is a city inRupnagar district (Ropar), on the edge ofShivalik Hills, in the Indian state ofPunjab.[1] Located near theSutlej River, the city is one of the most sacred religious places inSikhism, being the place where the last two Sikh Gurus,Guru Tegh Bahadur andGuru Gobind Singh, lived. It is also the place where Guru Gobind Singh founded theKhalsa Panth in 1699.[2] The city is home to Takhat Sri Kesgarh Sahib, the third of the fiveTakhts in Sikhism.[1][3]
The city is a pilgrimage site in Sikhism.[4] It is the venue of the largest annual Sikh gathering and festivities during theHola Mohalla in the spring season.[5]
Anandpur Sahib is located onNational Highway 503 that linksKiratpur Sahib andChandigarh toNangal,Una and furtherKangra, Himachal Pradesh. It is situated near theSutlej river, the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab.
Anandpur Sahib was founded in June 1665 by the ninthSikh Guru,Guru Tegh Bahadur. Gurinder Singh Mann states that Guru Tegh Bahadur established Anandpur in 1684.[6] He previously lived in Kiratpur, but given the disputes withRam Rai – the elder son ofGuru Har Rai and othersects of Sikhism, he moved to village in Makhoval. He named itChakk Nanaki after his mother,[7] and became a prominent Dharamshal (Gurdwara plus self-sufficient village), consisting of tent encampments, vernacular clay/adobe straw-thatched round hutments ("Bunga") and small orchards and gardens in between the heavily forested hilly area and besides a stream and waterfall, (located in the area currently marked by Gurdwara Bhora Sahib).[8] In 1675, Guru Tegh Bahadur was tortured and beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam under the orders of the Mughal EmperorAurangzeb, a martyrdom that led Sikhs to rename the town to Anandpur and crown his son Gobind Das as per his orders (also known as Gobind Rai)[9] as his successor and famous asGuru Gobind Singh.[10][11][12]
The village grew larger (with more temporary encampments), state Louis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod, as Sikhs moved near Guru Gobind Singh.[10] The growing strength of Sikhs in Anandpur under the tenth Guru, after the execution of the ninth Guru, raised concerns of the neighboring Pahari rajas - the vassals of the Mughal Empire, along with theMughal ruler Aurangzeb.[10][13]: 14 In 1693, Aurangzeb issued an order that banned large gatherings of Sikhs such as during the festival ofBaisakhi.[13]: 14
On the Vaisakhi day of 1699, the Guru sent out invitations across the land to distant and nearby Sikh congregations to convene at Anandpur for the upcoming festival.[3] It was normal for the Guru to celebrate Vaisakhi at Anandpur with Sikh congregations annually but this time much more importance was placed on attendance than usual and more stringently.[3] Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa Panth in Anandpur on the day of the 1699 Vaisakhi festival after an elaborate ceremony and gathered a large armed militia.[3] This triggered Aurangzeb and his vassalHindu kings around Anandpur to blockade Anandpur.[10] This led to several battles:
According to Louis Fenech, Anandpur's history during the late 17th century and early 18th century was complex and war prone because the relationship of Guru Gobind Singh with his neighbors was complex. Sometimes the hill chiefs and Guru Gobind Singh cooperated in a battle, sometimes they fought against each other, where the difficult mountainous terrain made it difficult for the Mughal to subdue everyone with force and the terrain made it easier for Pahari chieftains to rebel against the Mughals routinely.[13]: 8–11
After the city was sacked in 1704, its control passed into the hands of Budh Singh, a disciple of Guru Gobind Singh.[7] Budh Singh later handed over control of the city over toPatiala State under the reign ofAla Singh.[7] In 1764, the descendent of Sodhi Suraj Mal (one of the sons of Guru Hargobind), Nahar Singh, purchased the city plus a fort calledManji Sahib (which was a dwelling associated with Suraj Mal).[7] As moreSodhi families moved into the city, fourSarkars were established, with them namely being:Badi,Dusri,Tisri, andChauthi.[7] The Badi sarkar was the most eminent of the four yet all of them were revered by the Sikh population of the era.[7] Each sarkar had its own associated palace that was fortified, commune, and congregation of followers.[7] The sarkars also maintained a militia of their own, consisting of infantry, cavalary, and elephants.[7]
Virasat-e-Khalsa Museum campus links, particularly with the need of the population, providing business to the locals and makes the city marked on urban literature globally. Punjab Heritage Tourism Promotion Board paid to have it installed in order to attract worldwide tourism. Open spaces which are going to be used by ritual activities during ceremonies and festivals also serve as alternative parking grounds, reserved grounds for political rallies which brings the intact ingredient of Indian cities together “The Interaction”.[22]
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Historical sites and structures in the city have been poorly maintained and the vast majority have been destroyed.[24] Buildings, such as forts, that are associated with the lives of the Sikh gurus have been demolished and renovated beyond recognition, including the Anandgarh Baoli.[24] Much of this defacement involves encasing historical structures in marble.[24] Though the locality once was littered with various forts, these have been destroyed over the years as the city has expanded and changed.[24] In the 1930s, a new structure was constructed over the original site and structure ofAnandgarh Qila.[24] By 1988, essentially all of the principal standing shrines of Anandpur Sahib had been reconstructed at some point in either the late 19th or early 20th centuries during theSingh Sabha movement, based upon older edifices that stood at their spot.[3] There were formerly mural paintings and floral embellishments decorating the walls of Gurdwara Akal Bunga but these are no longer extant, though surviving traces of these wall paintings could be seen on the wall skirting the roof of the structure.[3] Qila Sodhian was the last surviving remnant of a fortification in Anandpur Sahib in the year 1999.[24]
The original vernacular heritage structures and monuments that are associated with the lives of the Sikh Gurus have long been demolished and replaced with new buildings inspired by Mughal or modern Architecture- no original heritage remains from the 17th century, and very little from the 19th. As per Nihang oral history, the original Chak Nanaki and Akal Bunga (vernacular clay round hutments) were demolished in the Ranjit Singh era and replaced with a new Gurdwara complex, a large palace was constructed on the hilltop which was previously an open site of worship, and the small lookout posts in the hillsides (referred to as "Quila"- Fort in vernacular Nihang vocabulary) were replaced with towering Mughal-architecture forts, to display the new wealth and prestige of Empire. A photograph taken in 1865 by journalists from the Francis Frith Studios, shows the new palatial building on the hilltop; with some abandoned early 18th century clay structures still present around it. In the 1900s, these few remaining vernacular clay structures were demolished, jungles cut down, the hills and ravines flattened and replaced with houses, markets and roads for the growing populace. In the 1930s and 40s, post the Singh Sabha Gurdwara Reform, the 19th century buildings and forts, including the Anandgarh Baoli were either demolished or defaced beyond recognition,[7] through encasing historical structures in marble.[7] The 19th century Keshgarh hill-top Palace was demolished in its entirety and replaced with an entirely new structure [Takht Kesgarh Sahib].[7] Quila Taragarh was constructed on the sacred hilltop where 500 holy saints meditated- replacing the rock mound, garden and Nishan Sahib that was previously stood there. There reconstructions were based upon older edifices that stood at their spot, and with none of the natural hill and ravine ecology remaining; which had quintessentially defined the area during the Gurus era.[3] The steep natural stone steps descending down to a spring from Quila Anandgarh, graced by the Gurus footsteps, was demolished and replaced with a brick and concrete stairway and the original spring removed and replaced with a generic Gurdwara. The Holy Bhora (natural rock ledge) on which Guru Tegh Bahadur used to sit and meditate besides a stream, was preserved in the basement of the newly built Bhora Sahib Gurdwara, but this too was demolished and the basement fully encased in marble in the 2000s at the behest of the controversial "Kar Seva" modernisation drive. The only remaining built heritage in 2025 is a small section of 19th century Nanakshahi (narrow) red brick on display behind a glass panel within the newly constructed Quila Anangarh Sahib. There are also some sections of ruins of a 19th-century Sodhi clan Haveli in the back alleys of the old Market. Today, Anandpur Sahib is a growing city and popular place of pilgrimage, but without any cultural or natural heritage. The emphasis has been for modern architecture and religious symbolism in the urban landscape: from the prominent 81-foot-high stainless steel Khanda in the Khalsa Park to the sprawling modern concrete and steel Virasat-e-Khalsa museum, desiged by the Israeli architect Moshe Safdie, commissioned in 1999 by the then Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, who was inspired by the similarly modern Yad Vashem holocaust memorial. The dynamic interplay between the city's significance as a spiritual center and relentless modernization juxtaposes and reveals the struggle of the post-Colonial Sikh identity, that is still unfurling.[23]
Elements convening definitions of the city Anandpur Sahib are:Heterogeneous societies and discrete buildings as economic and administrative, social, institutional, political, neighborhoods and associated personnel, compacted and overlapped packing of residential and nonresidential structures, monumental core of unique buildings (for example, Keshgarh Sahib Gurudwara, bus stand structure), Five Forts of city and Khalsa Heritage Museum, special characteristic features “City profile” of Anandpur Sahib that shows maximum building height at the centre of the city and less height as one moves away from the city centre, central focus the enshrined centre, whose access was restricted and where Gurudwaras predominated.[22]
Anandpur Sahib is in Punjab state of India, close to the Himachal Pradesh border. It is about 31 kilometres (19 mi) north of Ropar (Rupnagar) and 29 kilometres (18 mi) south of Nangal.[5] The gurdwaras of Anandpur are classified as historical since they are connected to the Sikh gurus or other aspects related to the history of Sikhism.[3] Thearchitecture of the Sikh shrines of Anandpur have commonalities in their themes but also have unique quirks and aspects to their design that do set them apart from each-other.[3] Anandpur has been significant to the Sikh history. These historical locations now feature the following Gurdwaras:
10th Sikh GuruGuru Gobind Singh made five forts on the border of the city. The buildings to commemorate each of these were built between late 1970s and the late 1980s:[5][7]
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As of 2011[update] Indiacensus,[28] The Anandpur Sahib Municipal Council has population of 16,282 of which 8,545 are males while 7,737 are females as per report released by Census India 2011.[citation needed]
Population of children with age of 0-6 is 1774 which is 10.90% of total population of Anandpur Sahib (M Cl). In Anandpur Sahib Municipal Council, Female Sex Ratio is of 905 against state average of 895. Moreover, Child Sex Ratio in Anandpur Sahib is around 932 compared to Punjab state average of 846. Literacy rate of Anandpur Sahib city is 82.44% higher than state average of 75.84%. In Anandpur Sahib, Male literacy is around 85.75% while female literacy rate is 78.78%.[citation needed]
Anandpur Sahib Municipal Council has total administration over 3,270 houses to which it supplies basic amenities like water and sewerage. It is also authorized to build roads within Municipal Council limits and impose taxes on properties coming under its jurisdiction.[citation needed]
Villages administered by thetehsil of Anandpur Sahib include:
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Anandpur Sahib features a major festival and gathering of Sikhs every year on the occasion ofHola Mohalla, which is celebrated one day prior to Holi.[3] This tradition dates back to the times of the 10th Guru,Guru Gobind Singh. The guru decreed that the occasion of the festival ofHoli be the occasion for the display of the martial spirit of his people.[3] He gave this festival of Holi the Sikh name of 'Hola Mohalla'. Each year Hola Mohalla marks the congregation of nearly 20,00,000 (2,000,000) Sikhs from all over the country for a festival of colour and gaiety. The festival, among other things, remembers the creation of Khalsa on the Baisakhi day in 1699.[29]
The fair lasts for three days. The Gurudwaras are specially decorated for the occasion. During Hola Mohalla, Anandpur Sahib wears a festive appearance and hums with activities in March. Community conferences and religious functions are also organized. On this occasion, Nihangs from all over the country gather for the celebrations. The highlight is a huge procession by the Nihangs, clad in their traditional dress and weapons, on the last day of the fair. The procession starts from the headquarters of the Nihangs, opposite Gurudwara Anandgarh Sahib, and passes through the bazaar, goes to village Agampur and reaches the fort of Holgarh, the place where Guru Gobind Singh used to celebrate this fair. Thereafter, the procession heads toward the sandy bed of Charan Ganga, where demonstration of martial games including riding, tent pegging, sword-wielding, etc. are witnessed by a large number of people.[30]
Baisakhi in 1999, at Anandpur Sahib marked the completion of 300 years of the birth of theKhalsa.[3] It was on Baisakhi day in 1699 that Guru Gobind Singh baptised thePanj Pyaras at the place whereTakht Sri Keshgarh Sahib stands.[3]
The world's tallest khanda is installed at Sri Anandpur Sahib at Panj Piara Park with an estimated height of 70 feet.
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