Gurudwara Budha Sahib Ganganagar

The reason why this Gurudwara is in place today is because of two Sikh brothers, Sukha Singh and Mehtab Singh. These brothers were the main contributors to the development of Sikh religion in Rajasthan. These brothers had beheaded the cruel Mughal leader, Massa Ranghar in the year 1740 and brought his head to this particular place. As a tribute to this incident, years after this incident, a Gurudwara was set up here. Massa Ranghar's head is protected in a glass case and is available for public view even now.

There was a widespread disharmony between the Mughals and the Sikhs in the 1700s. The disharmony only got bigger and more complicated with the Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb's death. The Mughals started treating the Sikhs very badly and problems reached beyond control with the arrival of Zakriya Khan. Zakriya was Lahore's governor during the years 1726 and 1745. The Sikhs suffered their worst under his role. He chased Sikhs away from his land and he forced them to seek refuge in the distant hills. The Sikhs were forced to dread every minute of their lives and the problems became unbearable for the Sikhs till the year 1740.

The Golden temple at Amritsar was one of the most sacred places of worship for the Sikhs. However Zakriya took the cruel decision of appointing Massa Ranghar for stopping the Sikhs from entering this temple. Massa Ranghar, also known as Mir Musalul Khan was a physically intimidating man who had a huge and bulky frame. He committed incorrigible crimes in the temple venue. His acts were so sinful that mere words cannot describe them. He brought his personal cot and placed in right in the centre of the temple and placed himself there. He started consuming liquor and wine right within the temple premises which enraged the Sikhs to a great extent. However they were helpless, as they could not fight against Massa Ranghar. He also danced with prostitutes inside the sacred Sanctum Santorum. Hearing of all this, the blood of two brothers boiled with fury.

These two brothers were Sukha Singh and Mehtab Singh. These brothers were from Amritsar and they wanted to punish Massa Ranghar for his cruel acts committed within the sacred premises of the temple. These brothers disguised themselves as Muslim Pattis, carried huge sacks on their shoulders and entered the temple in the pretext of paying money to Massa Ranghar. When the cruel Mughal leader bent down to collect his revenue, one of the brothers, Mehtab Singh beheaded Massa Ranghar in a jiffy and took the head in a sack. All this happened so fast that even before the Mughal soldiers realized what had happened, the Sikh brothers fled away.

They then took the head and came to their village in Rajasthan. The villagers who had feared for the brothers' safety jumped in joy when they saw the brothers returning alive. They were even more overjoyed when they saw Massa Ranghar's head in the sack. The brothers and the villagers later suspended his head from a tree at the Buddha Johad area. After a few years, this Gurudwara was established exactly in this area. The tree where the brothers tied their horses to, and submitted the cruel Mughal's head to Jathedar Baba Buddha Singh, the Jund tree was there in existence until recently, in 2000, when it fell down. The paintings and monuments found in this Gurudwara are very rich and a sheer pleasure for the tourists' eyes. There is a huge pond in the complex where this Gurudwara is situated. Every month, on the dark moon day, huge crowds of people gather here for worshipping.

How to Reach

By Air - Jaipur is the nearest airport from this Gurudwara. The other nearby airports are Delhi and Chandigarh.

By Train - Ganganagar is the nearest railway station and it is well connected by trains to all the major cities. There are daily trains between Jaipur and Ganganagar at increased frequencies.

By Road - There are lots of buses, both private owned and public owned, from Jaipur to Ganganagar. There are also taxi services from Jaipur airport and railway stations. The rates are reasonable and the frequency is remarkable.

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