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The tenth Guru held his
court and congregation here. It is the site of his own tent where he
was convalescing after he was attacked by assasins. It is the place from
where the tenth Guru rose to heaven alongwith his horse Dilbag.
"The Eternal Father willed and I raised the Panth. All my Sikhs are
hereby ordered to accept the Granth as their Preceptor. Have faith in
the holy Granth, as your master and consider it the visible
manifestation of the Gurus. He who hath a pure heart will seek
guidance from its holy words."
These are the words uttered by the the tenth Guru Sri Gobind Singh,
before his death on October 7, 1708 at Nanded in Maharashtra. At the
site where the Guru breathed his last, was built a Gurdwara between
1832 and 1837, under instructions from Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It is
called "Takhat Sachkhand Sri Hazur Abchal Nagar Sahib". It is a two-storey
building. The architectural design resembles that of the Golden
Temple. It's' interior is artistically ornamented in the style of
Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar. The walls of the inner room called Angitha
Sahib have been covered with golden plates. On the first floor,
recitations from Sri Guru Granth Sahib, go on day and night. The dome
is polished and on the pinnacle is the kalash made of gold plated
copper.
Some of the sacred relics of Guru Gobind Singh are also preserved
here. These are, a golden dagger, a matchlock gun, an archer with 35
arrows, two bows, a steel shield studded with precious stones and five
golden swords.
This historical shrine is situated on the bank of the Godavari river
and is visited by thousands of devotees throughout the year from all
over India and abroad. It is one of the five Takhts (thrones) of the
Sikhs and is much venerated by them. Here took place in the first week
of September, 1708, the conversion to Sikhism of a Bairagi Sadhu Madho
Dass, who under a new name of Banda Singh Bahadur, gave a sharp turn
to the history of the Sikhs. It was this great hero who in the next
seven years (1709-1715) shook the Mughal empire in the north-west to
its very foundation and paved the way for the liberation of the Punjab
in 1764-65.
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