Nankana Sahib
Birthplace of Guru Nanak, then the village of Rai Bhoi di Talwandi. Gurdwara Janam Asthan marks the house where he was born in 1469.
Nankana Sahib, once the village of Rai Bhoi di Talwandi in the bar country west of Lahore, is the birthplace of Guru Nanak and the holiest place in the world for Sikhs after Amritsar. The land was later given to the Guru's family by the village's Muslim chief, Rai Bular, who was one of the first to recognise the boy's gifts.
The town is a cluster of gurdwaras, each marking a story from the Guru's childhood: Janam Asthan where he was born; Patti Sahib where he went to school; Kiara Sahib where the fields his buffaloes grazed were found miraculously restored; Mal Ji Sahib where a cobra shaded the sleeping child with its hood; and Tambu Sahib, where he sat under a tree after the 'true bargain'. Ranjit Singh endowed them richly.
In February 1921 the mahant Narain Das, who controlled Janam Asthan, had some 130 Akali reformers killed inside the gurdwara; the Nankana massacre was a turning point of the gurdwara reform movement. Since 1947 Nankana has been in Pakistan, and every November Sikh pilgrims cross the border in their thousands to celebrate the Guru's birthday there.
People
Founder of Sikhi. A poet and teacher who rejected caste and empty ritual and taught devotion to one formless God through the Name, honest work and sharing.
Muslim rabab player and Guru Nanak's lifelong companion on his journeys. Three of his saloks are in the Guru Granth Sahib.
Guru Nanak's elder sister, remembered as the first to recognise him as a spiritual teacher.
Guru Nanak's mother, who in the janamsakhis defends her son's unworldly ways against his father's frustration.
