10 Facts Indians should know about Kartarpur Sahib
The very famous Kartapur Sahib Gurudwara is significant because of its location as it lies near the border between Pakistan and India. It is located in the Shakargarh Tehsil of the Narowal District in Punjab, Pakistan.
In 1515, Guru Nanak founded the Kartarpur town by the Ravi River. The Gurudwara is visible from the Indian side of the border. People of India gather in large numbers and binoculars are installed from where they perform darshan.
1. Kartarpur Sahib is located five kilometres from the Indo-Pakistani border and is a top tourist attraction for people visiting Pakistan. The main shrine building was built in 1925 costing Rs. 1,35,600, which was donated by Sardar Bhupinder Singh, the Maharaja of Patiala. Later in 1995, it was repaired by the Pakistan Government and fully restored in 2004.
2. The 16th-century Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur on the banks of the river Ravi is important for Sikhs as Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh Guru spent 18 years here and established the Gurudwara in 1522.
3. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had first suggested the corridor when he took the bus trip to Lahore in 1999. For decades, Sikh devotees have been demanding that India and Pakistan collaborate to build a corridor linking it with the Dera Baba Nanak in the Gurdaspur district.
4. It is built on the historic site where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, settled and assembled the Sikh community after his missionary travels (Udasis to Haridwar, Mecca-Medina, Lanka, Baghdad, Kashmir, and Nepal) and lived for 18 years until his death in 1539. It is one of the holiest sites in Sikhism, alongside the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
5. This Gurudwara was expanded into a new courtyard, museum, library, dormitories, and locker rooms spread across an area of 42 acres (17 hectares). There is a 20-foot well, made of small red bricks which is 500 years old and believed to have been built during the lifetime of Guru Nanak Dev.
6. Guru Nanak gave the three principles of Kirat Karo, Naam Japo, Wand Chako, which means work hard for a livelihood, keep remembering God, and share your bounties with the world. Guru’s teachings have been peace, harmony, and universal brotherhood. Guru Nanak believed in equality between castes, religions, and genders and gave the word Ik Onkar, meaning there is only one God.
7. There is an agreement that will ensure visa-free travel for the Indian pilgrims
8. A list of shrines and holy places has been determined under the 1974 Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines, as per which Indian and Pakistani citizens can visit the respective countries and their holy sites
9. The agreement is valid for a period of five years and either of the two countries can terminate it by giving a notice period of a month.
10. This corridor can be considered a road to peace between the two neighbouring countries.
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