IKULĀHĀ, a village 6 km southwest of Khannā (30º42'N, 76º13'E) in Ludhiāṇā district, is sacred to Gurū Hargobind, who visited it on his way from Ghuṛāṇī and Dhamoṭ to Saunṭī. The shrine which commemorates the visit was raised much later. The construction work was started in 1907-08 by Bhāī Ralā Siṅgh, who resigned his job in East Africa to return to his village for this purpose, but the building was not completed until 1933. By then the supervision had passed into the hands of a revered lady, Māī Gulāb Kaur. The shrine is known today as Gurdwārā Gurū Sar Pātshāhī Chhevīṅ. It has a flat-roofed dīvān hall where the Gurū Granth Sāhib is installed. Close by, there is a Mañjī Sāhib in the form of a small square domed room on a raised platform, with another room in the basement. The Mañjī Sāhib marks the site where the Gurū is believed to have sat and from where he addressed the devotees. A new 100feet high Nishān Sāhib was raised near the Mañjī Sāhib on 3 May 1978. Besides the daily services and the important Sikh anniversaries, an annual festival is held on 20 Baisākh (early May) to mark the day on which Gurū Hargobind is believed to have visited the village in 1632. The Gurdwārā is managed by a local committee, the Naujawān Sabhā, i.e. the village youth, taking an active interest in its affairs.

Major Gurmukh Siṅgh (Retd.)