Guru Nanak Darbar Jalalabad
Guru Nanak Dev Ji visited district Surkh-Rod of Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan on his return from Baghdad and Mecca to India in the 16th century.
At that time the locals in this region had a water shortage. They asked Guru Nanak for help and said to him “You are a messenger of God, please pray to God to relieve us from the water shortages.
Guru Nanak listened to their problem and then touched the ground with a stick. From where his stick touched a well surfaced. From that day onward there was no longer any shortage of water in the area. The water needs of locals were fulfilled. Henceforth Sri Chishma Sahib has become a place of pilgrimage.
Thereafter, Guru Nanak Dev Ji went to the Jalalabad and stayed there for 40 days. He stayed at the place where now the Guru Nanak Darbar in Jalalabad is situated.
Everyday after bathing in the Kabul River he taught mutual respect and universal brotherhood to the people of Jalalabad. In the Guru Nanak Darbar is a historical well, from where Guru Sahib taught the sangat.
In the last few years this well had almost dried up but now, after supplications of the devotees, the water here has sprung again. Since then devotees come here to bath at this sacred place. They gather here twice a year during the festival of Vaiskhai and on Guru Nanak birthday.
In the past, (before the conflict) Sikhs and Hindus from Kabul, Kandahar, Ghazni, Paktia, Khost and other parts of the country came here and camped for 8 days celebrating the religious festivals.
The atmosphere was lovely; after bathing in the sacred pool disciples went to the nearby Gurdwara where they listened to holy hymns and katha.
During the last 30 years of conflict most of Afghan Sikhs community have fled from Afghanistan to European and other Asian countries. As a consequence, the Sikh population of Jalalabad, the capitpal of Nangarhar, has dwindled significantly.
Guru Nanak Darbar Jalalabad
Pritpal Singh is the 2nd person from the right
Researched & Written by
Pritpal Singh, TheDutchSikh
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Pritpal is currently working on two documentaries of his trip to Afghanistan, one titled MISSION AFGHANISTAN based on his experiences of visiting the land he’d left years ago and the exploration of his roots. The second documentary would be a travelogue of the historical Hindu and Sikh shrines in Afghanistan, something that has never been done before.
While you wait with bated breath for their release, Pritpal Singh has put together a trailer for Mission Afghanistan on You Tube :
http://youtu.be/r6cVO7x3S1A
The photoset of his travels can be seen here :
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.126784250809139.27929.117432648410966&type=1
Guru Nanak Darbar Jalalabad
Darbar Sahib
