MUKARRAMPUR, locally called Makāroṅpur, is 14 km from Sirhind (30º-37'N, 76º-23'E). The village has five different historical shrines.

        GURDWĀRĀ PĀTSHĀHĪ CHHEVĪṄ, NAUMĪ ATE DĀSVIṄ is the principal Sikh shrine of Mukarrampur. The site is sacred to three of the Gurūs. According to local tradition Gurū Tegh Bahādur was here on the full-moon day of Hāṛ 1732 Bk which corresponds to 28 June 1675. Gurū Gobind Siṅgh is also believed to have stayed here for two days when, as a child, he was being escorted from Paṭnā to Anandpur. Gurū Hargobind, too, is said to have visited the village in the course of a journey through this part of the countryside.

         The present building was constructed during the 1940's. Standing on a high plinth, it comprises a square hall, with a domed sanctum in the centre and a verandah around it. The Gurdwārā is managed by the Shiromaṇī Gurdwārā Parbandhak Committee through a local committee which looks after other shrines in the village as well. Special dīvāns take place on every full-moon day. The major festival of the year is held on the full-moon day in the month of Hāṛ.

        GURDWĀRĀ SĀHIB PĀTSHĀHĪ 9 is situated inside the village. It is said that, while Gurū Tegh Bahādur was staying under a ber tree outside the village, a couple, Māī Māṛī and her husband Rūp Chand, supplicated him to visit their humble dwelling. The Gurū granted their wish. This Gurdwārā marks the site of the couple's house. The present building, constructed in 1975, has a domed square sanctum, within a rectangular hall.

        GURDWĀRĀ PAHILĪ PĀTSHĀHĪ, a mound called Īsarkhel Theh, about one kilometre from the village, marks the site where Gurū Nānak is said to have once stayed. The present building constructed in the early 1970's, within a walled compound, has a square hall, with the sanctum in the middle of it.

        BUṄGĀ SĀHIB and SHAHĪD GAÑJ. Both these shrines, inside the village, are connected with Bandā Siṅgh Bahādur's attack on Sirhind in 1710. The main battle was fought at Chappar Chiṛī, near present-day Chaṇḍigaṛh, but, as the Sikhs pressed on towards Sirhind, the retreating imperial troops put up some resistance at Mukarampur. The Mughal force was defeated, but several Sikhs fell in the action. A memorial was raised in their honour inside the village. This has since been replaced by the present Shahīd Gañj, a small domed square room in which the Gurū Granth Sāhib is seated.

         The Buṅgā Sāhib, on the outskirts of the village, is of recent construction and is dedicated to Bābā Bandā Siṅgh Bahādur. It consists of a single domed square room, in which the Gurū Granth Sāhib is seated on a low platform.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

    Narotam, Tārā Siṅgh, Srī Gurū Tīrath Saṅgrahi . Kankhal, 1975

Major Gurmukh Siṅgh (Retd.)