DHALEO, locally called Dhalevāṅ, village 6 km southeast of Bhīkhī (30º-3'N, 75º-33'E) in Mānsā district of the Punjab, is sacred to Gurū Tegh Bahādur who arrived here travelling from Bhīkhī during his sojourn in the Mālvā region. It is said that as Gurū Tegh Bahādur was riding towards Gaṇḍhūāṅ to see an old Sikh, Bhāī Mughlū, lying on his death bed, he noticed a jogī in meditation on the bank of the pond at Dhaleo. The Gurū alighted here on his way back from Gaṇḍhūāṅ and held a discourse with the jogī, whose name was Tulsī Dās. The Gurū recited the following śabda to him :

        Why dost thou go to a forest in search of Him ?

        All-pervading yet ever detached,

        He resideth inside thee.

        As fragrance is in the flower, and reflection in the mirror,

        So the Lord liveth everywhere;

        Search for Him in thy heart, Brother.

        Knowest the same Light within and without,

        This is the knowledge imparted by the Gurū.

        Without knowing the Self, says Nānak,

        The crust of illusion is not erased

                                         (GG, 684).

        

         Tulsī Dās, thus instructed and liberated, dedicated himself to preaching the Gurū's message. A memorial platform was raised later on the spot where the discourse had taken place. A proper shrine, called Gurdwārā Mañjī Sāhib Pātshāhī IX, was constructed in 1916 near the village pond on the northern outskirts of the village. The present building on a low mound consists of a domed sanctum with a rectangular hall, in front. The older building is now used as lodgings for the granthī, Scripture-reader or Gurdwārā custodian. Recently, traces of brick-lined steps leading down to the water level have been found in a corner of the pond, signifying the existence of an old sarovar which the village committee managing the Gurdwārā now proposes to renovate.

Major Gurmukh Siṅgh (Retd.)