Sri Anandpur Sahib

Sri Anandpur Sahib is a town on a lower spur of the Shivalik range in Ropar (Rupnagar) district, Punjab, about 31 km north of Ropar. It holds Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib, one of the five Takhts, and the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism calls it the birthplace of the Khalsa. The Anandpur Sahib Resolution of 1973 was adopted here, but the place and the resolution are different things.

Key moments

• 19 June 1665: Guru Tegh Bahadur laid the foundation on the mound of Makhowal, which he had bought from the Raja of Kahlur (Bilaspur). He named it Chakk Nanaki, after his mother.
• November 1675: after his martyrdom at Delhi, his severed head was brought here by Bhai Jaita and cremated.
• 1685 to 1688: Guru Gobind Singh left for Paonta, and after the battle of Bhangani on 18 September 1688 returned and renamed the town Anandpur. He ringed it with forts: Kesgarh at the centre, with Anandgarh, Lohgarh, Holgarh, Fatehgarh and Taragarh.
• 30 March 1699 (Baisakhi): at Kesgarh the Guru asked for volunteers willing to give their heads. Five stepped forward, Daya Ram, Dharam Das, Mohkam Chand, Himmat and Sahib Chand, and became the Panj Pyare, the first of the Khalsa. The Guru then asked them to initiate him in turn.
• 7, 12 and 13 October 1700: attacks by the hill chiefs and Mughal forces were repulsed.
• Spring 1701: the Guru started Hola Mohalla, a festival of martial skills held the day after Holi.
• May to December 1705: the town was besieged, and the siege ended when the Guru and his Sikhs left in the night of 5 to 6 December 1705.
• 12 January 1923: the Akalis occupied the shrines. The local Sodhi family handed them to the SGPC on 15 March 1923.

The Takht today. Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib stands on the hillock where Kesgarh fort stood. The white marble complex was built between 1936 and 1944 under Sant Har Singh Kaharpuri, and its sanctum shows weapons of Guru Gobind Singh. The SGPC manages the historic shrines through a manager it appoints, and the Jathedar of the Takht is an ex-officio member of the SGPC. Hola Mohalla remains the town's biggest festival.