AKBARPUR KHUḌĀL, village 6 km northeast of Bareṭā (29º-52'N, 75º-42'E), in Mānsā district of the Punjab, is sacred to Gurū Gobind Siṅgh, who came here in November 1706 to rescue a Sikh from captivity. According to Giānī Giān Siṅgh, Twārīkh Gurū Khālsā, Gulāb Siṅgh, a goldsmith of Akbarpur Khuḍāl, had been imprisoned by the village chief in a basement of his house on a false charge. The news of the Sikh in distress reached Gurū Gobind Siṅgh while he was at Sirsā, 80 km away, as the crow flies, already on his way to the South. But he turned his footsteps immediately with five of his Sikhs and, reaching Khuḍāl by a forced march, rescued Gulāb Siṅgh and instructed the chief, Nabī Bakhsh, in the path of virtue and justice. Gurū Gobind Siṅgh then returned to Sirsā. A gurdwārā was later established outside the village. The Mahārājā of Paṭiālā endowed it with 50 acres of land. The house of the chief inside the village was acquired after Independence, and Gurdwārā Bhorā Sāhib Pātshāhī 10 was constructed on the site in February 1951 by a Sikh landlord of the area, Harchand Siṅgh Jejī, who also made an endowment. The Gurdwārā, handed over to the Shiromaṇī Gurdwārā Parbandhak Committee in 1977, has a domed sanctum, within a hall, on the first floor. The bhorā or underground cell, in which Gulāb Siṅgh is believed to have been kept, is a small square cellar in the basement.

Major Gurmukh Siṅgh (Retd.)