Gurudwara Shri Batha Sahib

This Gurudwara is situated on the main road connecting Ropar and Chandigarh. This is considered to be one of the sacred places of worship by the Sikhs because the great Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth guru of the Sikhs, has visited the place not once, but four times. When Guru Gobind Singh was returning after winning the battle at Bhangani, his original destination was to reach Anandpur Sahib. However, on the way, he did have a few stopovers. One of them was Gurudwara Naba Sahib, where he walked barefoot to a Muslim elderly person's hut to grant him his wish. The other was Gurudwara Baoli Sahib, where the Guru did some miracles for the welfare of the village. He provided water facilities to the parched village and blessed a couple with fertility issues, with a healthy son. Both these Gurudwaras were in the Zirakpur district. As he was moving on from various places, he felt tired and wanted to rest for some time. When he came to Ropar district, he spotted a nearby worker and asked him for a place to take rest for a while. The worker pointed out to a structure which was nothing but a hot klin made of brick. This was also known as Batha. The Guru marched towards this place on his horse and to the utter surprise of the people around, when the Guru's feet dismounted from the horse and touched the Batha, it turned cold immediately.

The Chaudary of Ropar, Nihang Khan came to know of what had happened and immediately rushed towards the place and he was overwhelmed when he saw the Guru sitting comfortably on what was supposedly believed as hot brick klin. Nihang Khan was simply bowled over by the Guru's power and graciously took the Guru to his court to stay there comfortably. This was the Guru's first visit to the Batha Sahib in Ropar. The Guru left the very next day from the Chaudary's court, but not without gifting him certain valuable weapons. The Guru visited here for a second time to attend the engagement ceremony of Alam Khan, son of Chaudary Nihang Khan. The Guru came here for a third time when he was returning from some commitments in Kurukshetra. The last time the Guru came to this place was before he left for his original destination of Anandpur Sahib, for good.

There is also another story to this Gurudwara. Legend has it that when the Guru came to Ropar and asked for shelter to the Chaudary, the latter deliberately showed him the hot brick klin. The Chaudary told the Guru that only the hot Batha was the most deserving place for him. However the Guru took upon himself to change the hot klin into a cool place the minute that he set foot there. The Chaudary didn't expect this happen and hence was simply mesmerised by the Guru's powers and believed to have taken him to his court and treated him royally. However, the Guru left the next day after giving some precious weapons as gifts to the Chaudary.

This Gurudwara was built in the year 1914, at exactly the same place where the hot brick klin was located. It was built by Baba Jiwan Singh, an ardent devotee of Guru Gobind Singh. Some of the gifts which the Guru gave the Chaudary, like a sword made of silver, a dhal and a kitar are set to be preserved even today in the Gurudwara. This place sees a lot of visitors during two occasions. One is during the 11th August, death anniversary of Baba Jiwan Singh, where a huge fair is put up at this place. The other is between the 2nd and 4th of December, where the annual fair is put up at the Gurudwara.

How to Reach

By Air

The nearest airport to reach Ropar is the Chandigarh airport. This is around 41km from Ropar. Chandigarh is well connected with flights to and from all the major places in the country.

By Rail

Ropar railway station is the nearest junction to this Gurudwara as it just 0.3 km away from the place. Ropar has lots of trains coming in from Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai etc.

By Road

There are various comfortable buses with luxury coaches and air conditioning facilities to and from Ropar to nearby major cities like Delhi and to and from all the major cities in the state of Punjab.

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