Gorakhnath
Founder of the Nath order of yogis, whose followers Guru Nanak debated at Achal and elsewhere. The Nath tradition was strong across medieval Punjab.
Gorakhnath was a yogi who lived around the eleventh or twelfth century and is regarded as the founder of the Nath order, the Kanphata yogis, with their split ears and huge earrings, who practised hatha yoga to gain immortality and powers.
The Naths were the most powerful ascetic order in the Punjab in Guru Nanak's time, with centres at Tilla Jogian and Gorakh Hatri. Guru Nanak debated with the Siddhas in the Himalaya and the yogis at Achal, and his Sidh Gosht, in the Guru Granth Sahib, records his arguments: true yoga is living among the world, remembering the Name.
Gorakhnath's followers appear in the legends of Puran Bhagat and Heer Ranjha, in which the hero becomes a jogi of the order.
