MAUṚ KALĀṄ (30º-4'N, 75º-14'E), 35 km southeast of Baṭhiṇḍā in the Punjab, claims a historical shrine, Gurdwārā Srī Gurū Tegh Bahādur Darbār Sāhib, situated on the northern outskirts of the old village, now a part of the town. Gurū Tegh Bahādur came here from Bhīkhī and Khialā. As he looked around for a resting-place, he saw a large jaṇḍ tree (Prosopis spicigera) in the middle of an unoccupied enclosure. This he considered an appropriate spot and asked for the gate to be opened. The headman of the village warned him : "Honoured Master, the place is haunted. No man, horse, buffalo or cow takes shelter under that tree but dies." The Gurū said, "The demon will disappear." But the villagers persisted. "Only two days ago," they said, "a boy died under that tree. He was killed by the evil spirit." The Gurū spoke again : "We shall drive away the demon." He lodged under that very tree. According to local tradition, Gurū Tegh Bahādur stayed here for several days. No harm came to him or to his Sikhs. The people believed in the Gurū and served him with diligence. After the Gurū had left, they continued to treat the site with reverence and constructed a memorial. A gurdwārā was established by a Nihaṅg during the nineteenth century. The rulers of Paṭiālā, of whose dominions Mauṛ Kalāṅ formed a part, endowed it with 100 acres of land and the possession passed to a line of mahants. As the Gurdwārā Reform movement got under way, a committee formed by the villagers of that area took over the shrine on 14 Maghar 1980 Bk/28 November 1923. But the administration broke down after a few years and, in 1937, the Gurdwārā was handed over to a mahant, Varyām Siṅgh, whose successors still control it. A double-storeyed domed sanctum by the side of the old shrine was constructed in 1968 and a flat-roofed dīvān hall, with a basement, in 1977. Besides the daily services, all major Sikh anniversaries are observed with special dīvāns. The Gurū kā Laṅgar, on the first floor of the mahants' house, is open throughout the day.