Gurudwara Tap Asthan Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji Jaunpur

Those days the Gurus used to travel to different parts of the country in a bid to meet different people and to also spread the word of love and God so they could mend their ways and eventually lead to salvation. Similarly, Guru Tegh Bahadur also travelled extensively to all places and it was on one such travel to Benares in 1666 that we have references to this Gurudwara. The Guru was travelling to Benares and he stopped on his way back in Jaunpur.

Facts

This Gurudwara is situated on the banks of the river Gomati and this was the place where Guru Tegh Bahadur spent time when he travelled to Benares or today’s Varanasi. It was in the year 1666 that he travelled to Varanasi and Bhai Gurbaksh led a group of pilgrims to meet up with the Guru in Varanasi.  Bhai was very well known for his kirtans that he could render with devotion and dedication and he played one for the Guru as well. The Guru was spellbound at this complete surrender and presented him with a mridang, a famous percussion instrument, as a mark of appreciation of his religious fervour and devotion. He also promised to visit Jaunpur when he travelled back from Varanasi.

In order to keep up his promise of staying in Jaunpur, he visited the city in 1670 when he travelled back from Varanasi and he stayed here for some time. The place that he used to sit and meditate has been today converted to the Gurudwara that is standing in all its glory. The exact place that the Guru sat down and meditated is still seen on the eastern side of the river. That is still seen as a dilapidated and unkempt mound of sand that is seen today.

The dilapidated home that stand on this sand mound and the adjoining area that in all adds up to two acres are still seen to be under the ownership of Gurudwara Bari Sangat. This track record seems to have been unchanged since the olden times. This goes on to prove that the Guru Tegh Bahadur did really stay in this Gurudwara and use the mentioned space for his meditation.

The Gurudwara is also so structured that it has tried to maintain the olden layout to the maximum extent possible. Today, the devotees can see the Gurudwara to be a plain structure in rectangular shape.  One of its corners is converted to the sanctum sanctorum, the place where the pilgrims offers their prayers. Right in the middle of the hall like structure is the meditation spot of Tap Asthan very similar to the original Tap Asthan seen on the sand mound a distance away. Any other traces or records are not very clear as there are a lot of records that have been eroded with the passage of time.

The main attractions of this Gurudwara include the Guru Granth Sahib and an arrow made in steel.  The holy book of the Granth Sahib is special because it is found to be hand written, a rarity that is not seen today.  This is preserved in the Tap Asthan of the present Gurudwara and the devotees come and offer their prayers before this.  The steel arrow also has a place of prominence because it is supposed to be a gift that was given by Guru Tegh Bahadur himself.

How to Reach

• The Babatpur airport in Varanasi is the one that is closest to this Gurudwara.  Since this is not a common airport, pilgrims might experience problems in getting flights that correctly fly in or out of this airport. For better flight availability, the pilgrims can look at options of the Varanasi airport or the Lucknow airport and once they reach there, they can take a taxi to Jaunpur.
• Jaunpur is an important station in the North Eastern Railway Link and is well connected to the towns of Lucknow, Varanasi, Allahabad, Faizabad etc.
• Jaunpur can be reached from both Varanasi and Lucknow as it is connected to both of these cities through the road ways. There are buses that ply between these two towns at regular intervals and this good connection enables the visitors to reach the Gurudwara easily.

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