Prince George Sikh Youth: Historical Gurdwaras of India and Pakistan Yatra Part 7: Panja Sahib

Continuing on in our Yatra in Pakistan is our trip to Panja Sahib.

Day 11

Gurdwara Panja Sahib is located in Hasan Abdal. In 1521 Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Bhai Mardana arrived in Hasan Abdal and started doing kirtan which attracted many locals. This created jealousy in Wali Qandhari, who was used to having this attention from the locals and owned the only water supply. He purposefully cut off the supply so people would return to him. Guru Ji sent Bhai Mardana three times to ask Wali Qandhari for water for the villagers but Wali Qandhari rudely refused, and asked him to ask his Master (Guru Nanak). Guru Ji asked everyone to remember God, and asked the villagers to push away an embedded rock, when suddenly, a fountain of water sprang from it! Wali Qandhari’s fountain dried up, and he he became angry, throwing a giant rock down from the hill towards Guru Ji. Guru Ji stopped the rock with his hand, leaving the imprint. Seeing this, Wali became a follower of the Guru. This rock still stands and you can touch the imprint of Guru Ji. Panj means five, panja meaning outstretched palm.

The other important event that happened here was Saka Panja Sahib. In 1922, Mahant Sundar Das was doing very bad things at the Gurdwara Sahib, and the Sikhs told him to stop his actions. As a result, he took amrit but he did not change his thinking. He wanted revenge against the Sikhs. A group of five Singhs was arrested for cutting Acacia wood for langar from land attached to Guru Ka Bagh. They were all sentenced with lengthy jail time for stealing from the mahant, and the extreme punishment caused agitation amongst the Sikhs. The police started beating and torturing Sikhs, arresting 5 Singhs daily until the jails were filled, and there was plans to move the Sikhs to a fort in Hasan Abdul using a train. Seeing the conditions of the Sikhs the local sangat wanted to provide them with langar. They asked the trainmaster to stop for langar, but he refused. The sangat decided to stop the train themselves. Bhai Karam Singh is reported to have said “Baba Nanak had stopped a mountain with one hand. Cannot his Sikhs stop a train?” The 300 members of sangat were doing Naam Japna and lied on the railway tracks, with Bhai Karam Singh and Bhai Partap Singh in front. The driver refused to stop. The train rode over Bhai Karam Singh and Bhai Partap Singh, then stopped. Bhai Partap Singh encouraged the sangat to serve the langar before tending to their injuries and both Singhs became shaheed. Six others had injuries. Subsequently, the train driver was arrested and asked why he had stopped. His statement was “I had been given orders to not stop the train at any cost. As per the orders, I did not stop the train and was moving at full speed. When the train hit Shaheed Partap Singh I felt as if it had hit a huge mountain. I fell down and my hand got lifted from the speeder and the train stopped. After investigating the engine, it had been found that the brake had not been applied. I felt that some unseen hidden power (Vaheguru) stopped the train” (account from Bibi Harnaam Kaur, wife of Shaheed Partaap Singh). Thus these two events are to be remembered in association with Panja Sahib.

There was a 6 lane highway on the way to Hasan Abdal. On the way we stopped at the Bhera rest stop which was very modern. There was even a McDonald’s, Subway and Pizza Hut there, but we had a picnic of aloo parathas and achar which was delicious. The rotis were gigantic, 4 times the size of our normal roti! Then we went the rest of the way to the Gurdwara Sahib. The Gurdwara Sahib was built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. There’s also a saran for the yaatris. The Gurdwara Sahib is surrounded by the water from the spring, which is completely clear and you can see the fish living in it. We went down and all touched the handprint of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. We also got to do Ishnan there.

Inside the Gurdwara Sahib, I read the shabad “Gur Taar Taranhariya.” We did ardas together and got the Hukamnama “Maya Mamta Mohanee" (Ang 644): "The love of Maya is enticing; without teeth, it has eaten up the world. The self-willed manmukhs are eaten away, while the Gurmukhs are saved; they focus their consciousness on the True Name. Without the Name, the world wanders around insane; the Gurmukhs come to see this. Involved in worldly affairs, he wastes his life in vain; the peace-giving Lord does not come to abide in his mind. O Nanak, they alone obtain the Name, who have such pre-ordained destiny." Next we had interviews with local news and got to meet some of the police officers who were in charge of our safety. On the way to the langar hall you can see the hill from which the rock was rolled down by Wali Qandhari. The present day langar hall is the location of the railroad where Saka Panja Sahib occurred. After langar, we headed back to our hotel in Lahore. Panja Sahib was one of the most beautiful Gurdwaras I have ever seen, and the scenery on the way was magnificent.

Rest stop