Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, also called Kartarpur Sahib, is a

gurdwara 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 ...

in Kartarpur, located in

Shakargarh Shakargarh ( ur, ), the capital of Shakargarh Tehsil, is a city in the north-eastern part of Narowal District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It borders Jammu, India to the north and Sialkot to the west Its literacy rate is more than 85% wh ...

Narowal District Narowal District ( Punjabi and ur, ), is a district in the province of Punjab of Pakistan. Narowal city is the capital of the district. During the British rule, Narowal was the town of Raya Khas tehsil of Sialkot District. Narowal District ...

, in the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

province of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. It is built on the historic site where the founder of

Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...

Guru Nanak Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also referred to as ('father Nānak'), was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated wor ...

, settled and assembled the

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 ...

community after his missionary travels (''

udasis Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also referred to as ('father Nānak'), was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated wor ...

'' to

Haridwar Haridwar (; ) is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. With a population of 228,832 in 2011, it is the second-largest city in the state and the largest in the district. The city is situated on the righ ...

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

Lanka Lanka (, ) is the name given in Hindu epics to the island fortress capital of the legendary asura king Ravana in the epics of the ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata''. The fortress was situated on a plateau between three mountain peaks known ...

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

) 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 and

Gurdwara Janam Asthan Gurdwara Janam Asthan (Punjabi language, Punjabi , Urdu: ; Punjabi language, Punjabi : ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਜਨਮ ਅਸਥਾਨ), also referred to as Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, is a highly revered gurdwara that is situated at the site where ...

in Nankana Sahib. The gurdwara is also notable for its location near the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

between Pakistan and India. The shrine is visible from the Indian side of the border. Indian Sikhs gather in large numbers on bluffs to perform '' darshan'', or sacred viewing of the site, from the Indian side of the border. The

Kartarpur Corridor The Kartarpur Corridor ( pa, ਕਰਤਾਰਪੁਰ ਲਾਂਘਾ , , translit=kartārpur lāṅghā; ur, , translit=kartárpúr ráhdári) is a visa (travel), visa-free border crossing and religious corridor, connecting the Gurdwara Dar ...

was opened by Pakistani Prime Minister

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

on 9 November 2019, the anniversary of the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (german: Mauerfall) on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was a pivotal event in world history which marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain and one of the series of eve ...

and just days before the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. This historic moment officially allowed Indian Sikh pilgrims rare visa-free access to the site in Pakistan. It is also claimed to be the largest gurdwara in the world.

Location

Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib is located in the

Shakargarh Tehsil Shakargarh ( ur, ), is a ''tehsil'' located in Narowal District, Punjab, Pakistan. Shakargarh was the only ''tehsil'' of Gurdaspur district which was included in Pakistan at the time of the independence in 1947. The literacy rate of Shakargarh i ...

of the

in Punjab, Pakistan. It is a top tourist attraction for people visiting Pakistan. The shrine is located five kilometres from the Indo-Pakistani border.

Significance

The gurdwara was built to commemorate the site where

, the founder of

, settled after his missionary work and did farming. Guru Nanak founded the Kartarpur town by

Ravi River The Ravi River () is a transboundary river crossing northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. It is one of five rivers associated with the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two other rivers were ...

in 1504, plowing the fields and setting up a community kitchen, or

Langar Langar may refer to: Community eating *Langar (Sikhism) * Langar (Sufism) Places Afghanistan *Langar, Badakhshan, Afghanistan * Langar, Bamyan, Afghanistan * Langar, Faryab, Afghanistan * Langar, Herat, Afghanistan * Langar, Wardak, Afghanis ...

. He assembled a Sikh commune there, and lived for 18 years until his death on 22 September 1539. The gurdwara is built where Guru Nanak is said to have died. It is therefore the second holiest site of the Sikh religion after

– the birthplace of Guru Nanak located in

Nankana Sahib Nankana Sahib () is a city and capital of Nankana Sahib District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is named after the first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak, who was born in the city and first began preaching here. Nankana Sahib is the most ...

, Pakistan. Here, Guru Nanak gave the three principles of ''

Kirat Karo Kirat Karō (Gurmukhi: ਕਿਰਤ ਕਰੋ) is one of the three pillars of Sikhism, the others being Naam Japo and Vaṇḍ chakkō. The term means to earn an honest, pure and dedicated living by exercising one's God-given skills, abilities, ...

Naam Japo In Sikhism, Nām Japō (Gurmukhi ਨਾਮ ਜਪੋ), also known as Naam Japna or Naam Simran, refers to the meditation or contemplation of the various Names of God (or qualities of God), especially the chanting of the word "Waheguru" ('Wonderf ...

, Wand Chako,'' which means work hard for a livelihood, keep remembering the 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 , also spelled (Gurmukhi: or ; ); literally, "There is only one God or One creator or one Om-maker") is a phrase in Sikhism that denotes the one supreme reality. It is a central tenet of Sikh religious philosophy. are the first words of the M ...

'' meaning there is only one God. According to Lahore-based art historian Fakr Syed Aijazuddin, the shrine houses the last copies of the original

Guru Granth Sahib The Guru Granth Sahib ( pa, ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ, ) is the central holy religious scripture of Sikhism, regarded by Sikhs as the final, sovereign and Guru Maneyo Granth, eternal Guru following the lineage of the Sikh gur ...

. A Sikh pilgrim remarked, "every step here reminds us of the Guru's life". Indian Sikhs gather in large numbers on bluffs on the Indian side of the border to obtain ''darshan'', or sacred viewing, of the site. As per popular legend, after Guru Nanak died, there was a dispute between the local Hindus and Muslims. Muslims, who saw him as their pir, wanted to bury him while Hindus, who claimed Nanak as their

guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...

, wanted to cremate his body. But the legend follows that Guru Nanak's body was turned into flowers, which were then divided between the two communities.

Shrine

Inside sancto sanctrum Kartarpur sahib Gurdwara

Persian Wheel at Baba Nanak Well Kartarpur sahib

The Shrine is located at Kartarpur, a small town beside the River Ravi in Punjab and it is one of the holiest places for up to 30 million Sikhs around the world. The main shrine building was built in 1925 at a cost of Rs. 1,35,600, donated by Sardar Bhupindar Singh, the

Maharaja of Patiala The Maharaja of Patiala was a maharaja in India and the ruler of the princely state of Patiala, a state in British India. The first Maharaja of Patiala was Baba Ala Singh (1695–1765). Yadavindra Singh became the maharaja on 23 March 1938. H ...

.Suhasini Haidar
Time-travelling, on the corridor to Kartarpur shrine
The Hindu, 30 December 2018. It was repaired by the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provin ...

in 1995, and fully restored in 2004, at a significant cost. In May 2017, the US-based

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

"EcoSikh" proposed establishment of a 100-acre "sacred forest" around the shrine. The Gurdwara was further expanded in November 2018 with the construction of 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.

Access via Kartarpur Corridor

Proposals for visa-free access

The call for a visa-free Kartarpur Sahib corridor was an old, strong, persistent demand from the Sikh community. The move was mooted first during the then Prime Minister of India

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the 10th prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months fr ...

’s bus ride to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

in 1999, while Pakistani president

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...

approved the idea in 2000, and issued various tenders for construction purposes. India, however, maintained that the two-decade-old request has been lying pending with Pakistan. As the shrine lies only 3 kilometers from the border with India, Pakistan, in the year 2000, agreed to allow Sikh pilgrims from India to visit the shrine visa-free by constructing a bridge from the border to the shrine. In May 2017, Indian parliamentary standing committee members announced that no such corridor would be established, given the poor state of India-Pakistan relations. Instead, it was said that the government of India might install four binoculars for viewing the site from

Dera Baba Nanak Dera Baba Nanak is a town and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district, in the state of Punjab, India. It is 36km away from Gurdaspur city, the capital of the district. Since November 2019, a corridor between India and Pakistan has been establ ...

situated close to the India–Pakistan border in the

Gurdaspur district Gurdaspur district is a district in the Majha region of the state of Punjab, India. Gurdaspur is the district headquarters. It internationally borders Narowal District of Pakistani Punjab, and the districts of Amritsar, Pathankot, Kapurthala a ...

of the Indian state of

. In August 2018, then Tourism Minister of the Government of Punjab,

Navjot Singh Sidhu Navjot Singh Sidhu (born 20 October 1963) is an Indian National Congress politician, television personality and retired international cricketer. He is the former President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Formerly, he was the Minister of To ...

was invited to the oath-taking ceremony of his friend from cricketing days and newly-elected Prime Minister of Pakistan,

. After facing criticism for receiving a hug from General

Qamar Javed Bajwa General Qamar Javed Bajwa ( ur, ; born 11 November 1960) is a retired Pakistani army general who served as the tenth Chief of the Army Staff of Pakistan from 29 November 2016 to 29 November 2022. In 2018 he was ranked 68th in the ''Forbes' ...

, Chief of the Pakistan Army, Sidhu claimed that Bajwa had assured him of opening the corridor before the 550th birth anniversary of

. The Government of Pakistan in September 2018, unilaterally decided to open the corridor before the 550th birth anniversary of

for visa-free entry of 5000 Indian Sikhs per day from India to Pakistan. The Government of India approved the building and development of Kartarpur corridor from

to International India–Pakistan border. The long-awaited

is taking shape and has been termed a “Corridor of Peace. The step was welcomed by Sikh community across the world. After the corridor opening was confirmed by Pakistan's information minister

Fawad Chaudhry Fawad Ahmed Hussain Chaudhry (born 7 April 1970) is a Pakistani politician and a senior member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, who was Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, in office since 14 April 2021 to 10 April 2022. Previously ...

, Navjot Singh Sidhu appreciated the friendly gesture of Imran Khan. Kartarpur Corridor was welcomed by

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

and

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

Inauguration

Ahead of Guru Nanak Dev's 550th Prakash Purab celebrations the Kartarpur corridor, connecting Sri Darbar Sahib

in India's Punjab with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, was thrown open on 9 November 2019 (the anniversary of the

Fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (german: Mauerfall) on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was a pivotal event in world history which marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain and one of the series of eve ...

) facilitating the first

Jatha A Jatha ( Punjabi: ਜੱਥਾ g ਜਥੇ l) is an armed body of Sikhs. They have existed in Sikh tradition since the beginning of the Khalsa (Sikh community) in 1699 CE. A Jatha basically means a group of people. The Damdami Taksal Jatha ...

(batch) of more than 550 pilgrims to travel to the last resting place of Guru Nanak Dev. On Indian side, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

thanked his Pakistani counterpart

for respecting sentiments of Indians and flagged off the pilgrimage and handed over the flag of the Jatha to

Jathedar of Akal Takht The Jathedar of the Akal Takht ( pa, ਜੱਥੇਦਾਰ ਅਕਾਲ ਤਖ਼ਤ ਸਾਹਿਬ) is the head of the Akal Takht and head of the Sikhs worldwide. The jathedar has the de facto power as the supreme spokesperson of the Khalsa t ...

Giani Harpreet Singh. Under the leadership of

Akal Takht The Akal Takht ("Throne of the Timeless One") is one of five takhts (seats of power) of the Sikhs. It is located in the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex in Amritsar, Punjab, India. The Akal Takht (originally called Akal Bunga) was built by ...

jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh, the Jatha traveled through the corridor into Pakistan to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur. On Pakistan side, Imran Khan received the pilgrims and formally inaugurated the Kartarpur corridor by removing a curtain that was lifted by hot air balloons to reveal a huge

Kirpan The kirpan is a curved, single-edged dagger or knife carried by Sikhs. Traditionally, it was a full-sized sword but modern Sikhs have reduced the length to that of a dagger or knife due to modern considerations based on societal and legal chang ...

(dagger). Giani Harpreet Singh, speaking at the occasion, thanked both governments for corridor and requested corridor access to

Pakistani Sikhs Sikhism in Pakistan has an extensive heritage and history, although Sikhs form a small community in Pakistan today. Most Sikhs live in the province of Punjab, a part of the larger Punjab region where the religion originated in the Middle Ages, w ...

to pay obeisance at Sri Darbar Sahib

on Indian side. Poetry about Guru Nanak, from

Muhammad Iqbal Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...

Bang-e-Dara ''The Call of the Marching Bell'' ( ur, , ''Bang-e-Dara''; published in 1924) was the first Urdu philosophical poetry book by Muhammad Iqbal, one of the greatest poet-philosophers of the sub-continent of India. Content The poems in ''The Call ...

was read by former Indian prime minister Dr.

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...

and also by Pakistani speakers at inauguration.

References

External links

Kartarpur Corridor

www.etpb.gov.pk/kartarpur-corridor
Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor official website
prakashpurb550.mha.gov.in
Indian website portal for registration {{DEFAULTSORT:Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur 1925 establishments in British India Cultural heritage sites in Punjab, Pakistan Gurdwaras in Pakistan Memorials to Guru Nanak Narowal District Religious buildings and structures completed in 1925 Rebuilt buildings and structures in Pakistan Religious buildings and structures in Punjab, Pakistan Religious buildings and structures with domes Religious tourism Tourist attractions in Punjab, Pakistan 20th-century gurdwaras