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

gurdwara A gurdwara or gurudwara () is a place of assembly and place of worship, worship in Sikhism, but its normal meaning is "place of guru" or "home of guru". Sikhism, Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths and rel ...

(Sikh temple) in Kartarpur, Shakargarh Tehsil, Narowal District, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is built on the very historic site where the founder of

Sikhism Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...

Guru Nanak Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also known as ('Father Nanak'), was an Indian spiritual teacher, mystic and poet, who is regarded as the founder of Sikhism and is t ...

, settled and assembled the

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

community after his missionary travels ('' udasis'' to

Haridwar Haridwar (; ; formerly Mayapuri) 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 s ...

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

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

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, 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 P ...

and

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

) and lived for 18 years until his death in 1539. It is one of the holiest sites in Sikhism, alongside the

Golden Temple The Golden Temple is a gurdwara located in Amritsar, Punjab, India. It is the pre-eminent spiritual site of Sikhism. It is one of the Holy place, holiest sites in Sikhism, alongside the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Kartarpur, Pakistan, ...

in Amritsar and Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib. The gurdwara is also notable for its location near the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

between Pakistan and India. The shrine is visible from the Indian side of the border. Indian Sikhs gather in large numbers on Gurpurab (Parkash Purab and Joti Jot Divas of Guru Nanak Dev Ji) to perform ''

darshan Darshan, a Sanskrit word meaning "sight" or "viewing", may refer to: Ceremony and religion * Darshan (Indian religions), the auspicious sight of a divine image or holy person; also a school of Hindu philosophy * Darshan (Judaism), a Scriptural ...

'', or sacred viewing of the site, from the Indian side of the border. The Kartarpur Corridor was opened by Pakistani Prime Minister

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

on 9 November 2019, the anniversary of the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (, ) on 9 November in German history, 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, marked the beginning of the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain, as East Berlin transit restrictions we ...

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.

History

Guru Nanak spent his final years in Kartarpur, where he established a community and preached the principles of 'Kirit Karni' (honest labor), 'Wand Chakna' (sharing with others), and 'Naam Japna' (meditation on the divine name). He also engaged in farming during this time. Following his death, a dispute arose over his ' chadar' (shawl) between Hindus and Muslims. This was resolved by dividing the chadar, with the Muslims burying their portion and the Sikhs cremating theirs. Due to periodic flooding of the cremation site by the Ravi River, Guru Nanak's son, Baba Sri Chand, moved the ashes to a safer location, which is now known as

Dera Baba Nanak Dera Baba Nanak is a town and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district, in the state of Punjab (India), Punjab, India. It is the sub-district headquarters of Dera Baba Nanak (Sub-district), Dera Baba Nanak tehsil. It is 36 km away from Gurdaspur ...

Location

Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib is located in the

Shakargarh Tehsil Shakargarh (Punjabi: تحصیل شکر گڑھ), 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. Histo ...

of the

Narowal District Narowal District ( Punjabi and ) is a district in the province of Punjab, 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 formed ...

in Punjab, Pakistan.

Significance

Death of Guru Nanak from an Illustrated Janamsakhi Manuscript

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 in South Asia, flowing through northwestern India and eastern Pakistan, and is one of five major rivers of the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two oth ...

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, Afghanistan ...

. 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 Gurdwara Janam Asthan – 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 among ...

, 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 (, pronunciation: ), also known as Naam Japna or Naam Simran, is the remembrance of God or the Akal Purakh, Akal Purkh, the supreme formless power that is timeless and immortal, through the meditation or contemplation of ...

, Vand 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 Ik Onkar, also spelled Ek Onkar or Ik Oankaar ( Gurmukhi: or ; ); literally, "one ''God''", hence interpreted as "There is only one God or one Creator") is a phrase in Sikhism that denotes the one supreme reality. It is a central tenet of Sikh r ...

'' 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 (, ) is the central holy religious scripture of Sikhism, regarded by Sikhs as the final, sovereign and eternal Guru following the lineage of the ten human gurus of the religion. The Adi Granth (), its first rendition, w ...

. 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. There is a popular legend about a dispute between the local Hindus and Muslims after Guru Nanak died. Muslims, who saw him as their pir, wanted to bury him while Hindus, who claimed Nanak as their

guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

, wanted to cremate his body. According to the legend Guru Nanak's body was instead turned into flowers, which were divided between the two communities.

Shrine

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.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 () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

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

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

" 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 poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...

’s bus ride to

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

in 1999, while Pakistani president

Pervez Musharraf Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...

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

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 ...

of the Indian state of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

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

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

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 Qamar Javed Bajwa (; born 11 November 1960) is a retired Pakistani four-star 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'' list of ...

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

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

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 (, ) on 9 November in German history, 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, marked the beginning of the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain, as East Berlin transit restrictions we ...

) facilitating the first

Jatha A Jatha (Punjabi language, Punjabi: ਜੱਥਾ Singular (grammatical number), g ਜਥੇ Plural, l) is an armed body of Sikhs that has existed in Sikh tradition since 1699, the beginning of the Khalsa (Sikh martial order). A Jatha b ...

(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 who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

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 Giani Harpreet Singh. Under the leadership of

Akal Takht The Akal Takht (; ), also spelt as Akal Takhat and historically known as Akal Bunga, is the most prominent of the Takht (Sikhism), five takhts (Seat (legal entity), seats of authority) of the Sikhs. Located within the Golden Temple, Darbar Sah ...

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 (; pronunciation: Help:IPA/Punjabi, ɪɾpaːn is a blade that Khalsa Sikhs are required to wear as part of their religious uniform, as prescribed by the Rehat, Sikh Code of Conduct. Traditionally, the kirpan was a full-sized '' ...

(dagger). Giani Harpreet Singh, speaking at the occasion, thanked both governments for corridor and requested corridor access to Pakistani Sikhs to pay obeisance at Sri Darbar Sahib

on Indian side. Poetry about Guru Nanak, from

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

's Bang-e-Dara was read by former Indian prime minister Dr.

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

and also by Pakistani speakers at inauguration.

Gallery

File:Old photo of Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.webp, Photograph published in the early 1960s of the gurdwara site File:Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur ,Pakistan 01.jpg, complete view of Gurdwara sahib complex File:Kartarpur Guru Nanak.jpg, The Gurdwara before construction of the Kartarpur corridor File:Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur8.jpg, Darshan Deori (gateway) File:Siri Sahib ,one of five symbols of Sikhism , Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur ,Pakistan 05.jpg, Artistic presentation of Siri Sahib ,one of five symbols of Sikhism. File:Sarovar Sahib, Kartarpur(4).jpg, Sarovar Sahib File:Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur d.jpg,

Hall File:Baba Nanak's Well at Kartarpur.jpg, Baba Nanak's Well File:Inside sancto sanctrum Kartarpur sahib Gurdwara.jpg, Inside Gurdwara's

sanctum sanctorum The Latin phrase ''sanctum sanctorum'' is a translation of the Hebrew term ''קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים'' (Qṓḏeš HaQŏḏāšîm), literally meaning Holy of Holies, in Latin texts, this generally refers to the holiest place of t ...

File:Persian Wheel at Baba Nanak Well Kartarpur sahib.jpg, Khue Sahib (Persian wheel) File:Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur7.jpg, Site of Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur File:Agricultural fields where Guru Nanak used to perform cultivation, Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur ,Pakistan 08.jpg, Agricultural fields where Guru Nanak used to perform cultivation, Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur ,Pakistan File:Inner view of Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur ,Pakistan 02.jpg, Interior view of the darbar hall of Gurdwara Darbar Sahib File:Diwan Hall in Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur ,Pakistan 04.jpg, Diwan Hall of the Kartarpur Sahib complex

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 Tourist attractions in Punjab, Pakistan 20th-century gurdwaras 20th-century architecture in India