Bora is a village in the

Hoshiarpur district Hoshiarpur district is a district of Punjab, India, Punjab state in northern India. Hoshiarpur, one of the oldest districts of Punjab, is located in the North-east part of the Punjab state and shares common boundaries with Gurdaspur district in ...

Punjab, India Punjab (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Himachal ...

Location

Bora is located east of Garshankar. It is situated on the Garhshankar - Sri Anand pur Sahib Road.

History

In the 19th century, between 1800-1820 AD, Shri Mahant Ram, a Digpal Brahmin, came from Garhi Mansowal and purchased or occupied some land. As the time passed people from nearby villages started to come there, and Mahant Ram started selling plots to those people, becoming wealthy in the process. According to the

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

norms of the time, Brahmins occupied the center of the developing town, while peasants occupied the East side of the village, and lower castes, the North side of the village.

Etymology

The village was named for the prevalence of

banyan A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...

trees ("boharh" in Punjabi) in the area. The banyan trees have since been cut down.

Culture

Festivals

Bora celebrates all

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

and

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

festivals, including

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is ...

Holi Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...

Gurpurab Gurpurab ( Punjabi: ਗੁਰਪੁਰਬ ) in Sikh tradition is a celebration of an anniversary of a Guru's birth marked by the holding of a festival. There are indications in the old chronicles that the gurus who succeeded Guru Nanak cele ...

, and

Raksha Bandhan Raksha Bandhan Quote: m Hindi ''rakśābandhan'' held on the full moon of the month of Savan, when sisters tie a talisman (rakhi q.v.) on the arm of their brothers and receive small gifts of money from them. is a popular and traditionally Hin ...

, but Janamastami is the most popular festival in the village and is celebrated with great pomp and show by Hindus and Sikhs. On this day Sri Mahakali temple is decorated and the goddess

Mahakali Mahakali () is the Hindu goddess of time and death in the goddess-centric tradition of Shaktism. Similar to Kali, Mahakali is a fierce goddess associated with universal power, time, life, death, and both rebirth and liberation. She is the cons ...

is worshipped with ''

prasad 200px, Prasad thaal offered to Swaminarayan temple in Ahmedabad ">Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad">Swaminarayan temple in Ahmedabad Prasada (, Sanskrit: प्रसाद, ), Prasadam or Prasad is a religious offering in Hinduism. Most o ...

'' prepared by the temple administrators and offered to the goddess. In the 19th century there was a great confusion among the villagers that on which day Mahakali should be worshipped. The people of the Digpal gotra suggested that this holy ceremony should be done on the day of "Janamashtami".

Houses of worship

Bora is home to several

temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

: * Sri Mahakali Temple * Sri Sai Baba Temple (Gugga Zahir Peer) * Sri Gugga Marhi Temple * Shivalya (Shiv Mandir) * Do Lathian Wala Mandir (Shivalya) * Bagge Da Mandir There is also a Sikh

gurudwara A gurdwara (sometimes written as gurudwara) (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ''guradu'ārā'', meaning "Door to the Guru") is a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs. Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths ...

named Gurudwara Chhevi Patshahi Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji.

External links

MyPind.com – Bora
Villages in Hoshiarpur district {{Hoshiarpur district