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Gurudwara Baba Atal Amritsar
The Baba Atal Gurudwara of Amritsar which is the highest structure in the Amritsar City was originally the cenotaph and the remains of Atal Rai, son of Guru Hargobind, the sixth Guru of Sikhs, later converted in to a Gurudwara. Atal means non Destroyable and other activities like Bhai Mani's Singh's platform place, Maharaja Ranjit Singh's court yard were all at 15 feet high towards the Kaulasar Sarovar, which was facing the Golden Temple. The story of Atal Baba runs like this - He had a friend Mohan who died of snake bite, who came alive on the young Atal Rai touching him through a stick which was not appreciated by Guru Hargobind. After a dip in the Amritsar's sacred pool and Japu on Kaulsar's banks, he attained the eternal peace at the tender age of 9 which has now become a sacred place remembered by one and all. This episode relates to 1628 and thus he was called Baba Atal.
Punjabi saying is Baba Atal Pakiyan Pakaiyan Ghal, meaning please send us 24 hours cooked food, and rightly there is food available here for all 24 hours, which is made possible through the Yemen services of the Gursikhs.
More Description
Situated in the back portion of Gurudwara Shri Harmandir Sahib, Gurudwara Shri Atal Ji Sahib is in the memory of Baba Atal Rai, who was born in 1676 to Hargobind Sahib Ji. Atal ji had advice from his father that as a human his birth should be meaningful and that he should not show his strength in a wasteful manner and use it with wisdom and care. When his friend Mohan died of a snake bite and was revived and brought alive when he was touched by Atal ji sahib with a stick, his father was not pleased with this act and said we should not act against God's wishes and Baba Atal ji, took bath in the sacred sarovar, went round the Harmandir Sahib four times and went to Kaulsar Sarovar and laid himself down there and reached the abodes peacefully on 23rd July 1628 AD. Hearing this Hargobind ji uttered - This is nothing but God's wishes, what pleases God is always good which we must cherish happily and Atal's fame and name will live forever. At the same place where Atal died were the place he was cremated and a nine storied memorial built.
Devotees express their respect to the Baba, who is stated to be a prince of truth in the words O Baba Atal, Pakkian Pakaian Ghal meaning O Baba, give us well baked bread to remove our hunger and thus, cakes and food are served here for entire 24 hours of a day. This sacred place which was built many centuries ago, indeed speaks about the younger days of Baba Atal Rai, son of Guru Hargobind and the nine storeys speak about the nine years of life which the Baba lived till 1628.
The top floors of the building were destroyed terribly during 1984 Operation Blue Star wherein Army attacked heavily in and surrounding areas. However the same was later repaired and the Gurudwara however continues to be in its original shape and the Architecture and old paintings inside the Parikrama are lost. However, the outside portions are built with the old architecture plans.
The nearby cities to be visited are New Amritsar City, Amritsar and Jalandhar. Also good hotels and accommodations are available in and around the area where tourists can conveniently stay and see the places nearby.
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