Talwandi Sabo · Takht Damdama Sahib
Where Guru Gobind Singh rested in 1705–06 and, tradition holds, dictated the final edition of the Guru Granth Sahib to Bhai Mani Singh. Called the 'Guru's Kashi'.
Talwandi Sabo, in Bathinda district, was a village in the Malwa where Guru Gobind Singh stayed for some months in 1705 and 1706 after the battle of Muktsar. The place became known as Damdama Sahib, 'the breathing place'.
Here, by tradition, the Guru dictated the final version of the Guru Granth Sahib to Bhai Mani Singh, adding his father's hymns, and the place became a centre of learning, 'the Guru's Kashi', where Baba Deep Singh copied the scripture. Many Sikhs of the Malwa took amrit here.
Takht Sri Damdama Sahib was recognised in 1966 as the fifth of the Takhts. It is the seat of the Damdami Taksal's tradition and a busy place of pilgrimage at Vaisakhi.
People
Tenth Guru, warrior and poet. Created the Khalsa in 1699, fought a long war with the Mughals and hill rajas, lost his four sons and mother, and named the Guru Granth Sahib as the final Guru.
The scripture of the Sikhs and their eternal, living Guru: 1,430 pages of hymns by six Gurus and some thirty other saints, set in 31 ragas.
Scholar and warrior who led the Shaheed misl. In his seventies he marched to free the Harmandir Sahib after Afghan desecration and died near its precinct.
Scribe of the final Guru Granth Sahib at Damdama and later head granthi of the Harmandir Sahib, cut apart joint by joint in Lahore.
Artifacts
The final edition of the scripture, with Guru Tegh Bahadur's hymns added, completed at Talwandi Sabo with Bhai Mani Singh as scribe. The original is believed lost in the 18th century; every later copy descends from it.
Where Guru Gobind Singh stayed in 1705–06 and prepared the final edition of the Guru Granth Sahib; recognised as the fifth Takht in 1966.
On the timeline
Guru Gobind Singh's last journeys
Anandpur to Nanded, 1704 – 1708The five Takhts
The seats of Sikh authority- 1Akal Takht Amritsar
Built by Guru Hargobind, 1606: the throne of the Timeless, seat of temporal authority
- 2Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib Anandpur
Where Guru Gobind Singh created the Khalsa, 1699
- 3Takht Sri Damdama Sahib Talwandi Sabo
Where he completed the Guru Granth Sahib, 1706; a Takht since 1966
- 4Takht Sri Patna Sahib Patna
Birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh, 1666
- 5Takht Sri Hazur Sahib Nanded
Where he passed the Guruship to the Guru Granth Sahib and died, 1708