JHABĀL KALĀṄ (spelt Chabāl in Survey of India maps), village 15 km west of Tarn Tāran (31º-27'N, 74º-56'E) in Amritsar district of the Punjab, is sacred to Gurū Hargobind, who came here to perform the marriage of his daughter, Bībī Vīro, on 26 Jeṭh 1686 Bk/ 24 May 1629. During the Mughal times Jhabāl fell on the main Delhi-Lahore highway and the road junction here was known as Māṇak Chowk. The shrine established at the spot consecrated by Gurū Hargobind's stay on the western edge of the village came to be called Gurdwārā Māṇak Chowk. It is now known as Gurdwārā Bībī Vīro Sāhib. Constructed, according to local tradition, during the eighteenth century, the building comprises a square marble floored hall, with the sanctum in the middle. Above the sanctum there are two storeys of square rooms topped by a dome with a gold plated pinnacle. The Gurdwārā is managed by the Shiromaṇī Gurdwārā Parbandhak Committee through a local committee.

         Jhabāl has also produced some eminent personalities of Sikh history such as Bhāī Laṅgāh, Māī Bhāgo, Sardār Baghel Siṅgh, the leader of the Kāroṛsiṅghīā misl, and the three Jhabālīā brothers, Amar Siṅgh, Sarmukh Siṅgh and Jaswant Siṅgh who took a leading part in the Gurdwārā Reform movement. A gurdwārā commemorating Māī Bhāgo has been constructed within the compound of Gurdwārā Bībī Vīro Sāhib.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  1. Tārā Siṅgh, Srī Gur Tīrath Saṅgrahi. Amritsar, n.d.
  2. Gurbilās Pātshāhī Chhevīṅ. Patiala, 1970
  3. Giān Siṅgh, Giānī, Twārīkh Gurduāriāṅ. Amritsar, n.d.

Gurnek Siṅgh