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Gurudwara Baba Banda Bahadur Ghat
Baba Banda Singh Bahadur was one of the pioneers of the Sikh religion who lived between the periods 1670 and 1716. He was born in Jammu and Kashmir and was trained in martial arts. He was a brave soldier. When he was 15 years old, in one of his hunting expeditions, he accidentally killed a pregnant doe which changed his lifestyle for his ever. This made him quit his material possessions and become a Sikh Guru. Initially he joined Bairagi Ram Das, who was the one, who named him Madho Dass.After travelling for a long time, Baba finally decided to settle at the Panchvati forest near Maharashtra.
After some time at Panchvati, Baba built his own mutt at Nanded on the banks of the Godavari River. This place proved to be very special for the Baba, as he came into contact with the tenth Sikh Guru, Shri Guru Gobind Singh.The meeting between the Guru and Baba happened during the year 1703.Baba found his calling that very minute and he declared that had become the Guru's slave, or banda. The Guru presented Baba with a drum, a banner and five arrows to demonstrate power and authority. The Nanded Gurudwara was established at the very location where the Baba and Guru had met.
Guru Gobind Singh had tried in vain to track the tyrants who had killed his sons and innumerable Sikhs in a previous attack at Punjab. One of the main tyrants was Wazir Khan. Therefore, after the Guru's death, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur took it upon himself to trace the tyrants and travelled all the way north to Punjab. Wazir Khan, who saw this coming, had hired two Pathans already to kill the Baba. In the fight, though the Baba bravely fought and killed the Pathans, the injuries he suffered proved fatal for him.
Centuries after his death, he is still remembered as the savior of Sikhs who bravely fought against a huge Islamic empire who had tortured the Sikhs to a great extent. This Gurudwara is very famous as it gets lots of visitors throughout the year. He is one of the few Gurus who was an expert in martial arts and fighting skills as well. Baba Banda Singh himself, suffered immense torture from the Muslim kings for more than 3 months. His killing is considered to be one of the most gruesome, in the history of Sikh Gurus. He was forced to covert himself and his family members into Muslims.When the Baba disagreed to this, the Islam rulers committed the horrific crime of cutting the Baba's four year old son, Ajay Singh to pieces, right in front of the Baba's eyes. The worst was yet to come. The Baba was compelled to eat these body pieces.
His eyes were cut off one by one, then his arms and limbs were cut off , his flesh was exposed to ret hot pincers and his head was eventually chopped off. The Baba kept his cool all throughout the torture and his lips kept chanting the Gurbani through the entire process. The Baba underwent all this torture at Delhi .To commemorate the Baba's bravery and his passion towards Sikhism, the Gurudwara Baba Banda Singh Bahadur was established in New Delhi too.
He was one of those leaders who fought for his people till his last breath. He could not stand his people being overpowered by the Muslim rulers, therefore he travelled to faraway lands to protect his people and fight for their well-being. He took on opponents who were hundred times stronger than him and as a result was subjected to severe torture and suffering in the hands of his opponents. He took it all with extreme composure and never ever cared for his personal safety. His only focus in life was protection and peacefulness of fellow Sikhs. He wanted to ensure that the tyrants who did extreme damage to his Guru Gobind Singh's sons were punished severely. In due course, he himself lost his life in the battle, but not without fulfilling his objective in life.
How to Reach
By Air - Nanded airport is the nearest airpor t from this Gurudwara. Mumbai airport is around 480km from here. The Hyderabad airport is also around 250km away from this place.
By Rail - One of the most comfortable trains to reach Nanded is the direct train from Amritsar, Sachkand Express. It also has well connected railway lines from and to Mumbai and Hyderabad.
By Road - There are lots of buses that ply from most of the major cities in Maharashtra to Nanded. It is about 650km from Mumbai, 4-5 hours' drive from Aurangabad and around 11 hours from Pune by road.
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