ŪDĀ, BHĀĪ (d. 1688), a Sikh of the Rāṭhaur Rājpūt clan, was among those who had witnessed Gurū Tegh Bahādur's execution at Delhi. He returned in distress to Dilvālī Mohallā where Sikhs from the neighbourhood assembled in the house of Bhāī Nānū, the calico-printer, to consider how they could recover the Gurū's body and cremate it. They decided to seek assistance from Bhāī Lakkhī Shāh, an affluent trader and a Sikh by faith. Later in the evening Bhāī Ūdā assisted Bhāī Lakkhī Shāh in recovering and cremating the headless body of Gurū Tegh Bahādur, and then hurried towards Anandpur wither Bhāī Jaitā, carrying the Gurū's head, had already repaired. He overtook the latter at Kīratpur and along with Bhāī Jaitā received Gurū Gobind Siṅgh's blessing. He remained in attendance upon the Gurū, and fell a martyr fighting in the battle of Bhaṅgāṇī in 1688.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  1. Harbans Singh, Guru Tegh Bahadur. Delhi, 1982
  2. Trilochan Singh, Guru Tegh Bahadur : Prophet and Martyr. Delhi, 1967
  3. Padam, Piārā Siṅgh and Giānī Garjā Siṅgh, eds., Gurū kīāṅ Sākhīāṅ. Patiala, 1986

A. C. Banerjee