Anandpur Sahib Tourism

Anandpur Sahib, sometimes referred to simply as Anandpur Sahib (lit. "city of bliss"), is a city in Rupnagar district (Ropar), on the edge of Shivalik Hills, in the state of Punjab, India. Located near the Sutlej River, the city is one of the most sacred places in Sikhism, being the place where the last two Sikh Gurus lived and where Guru Gobind Singh Ji founded the Khalsa Panth in 1699. The city is home to Keshgarh Sahib Gurdwara, one of the five Takhts in Sikhism.

Anandpur Sahib was founded in the year 1665 by the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru TeghAnandpur Sahib, Gurudwara Anandpur Sahib, Takht Sr Keshgarh Sahib, Anandpur Sahib Yatra, Delhi Anandpur Sahib Tour Bahadur, near the ruins of an ancient place, Makhowal. On May 13,1665, Guru Tegh Bahadur went to Bilaspur to attend the mourning for Raja Dip Chand of Bilaspur State. The Dowager Rani Champa of Bilaspur offered to give the Guru a piece of land in her state. The Guru bought the site on payment of five hundred rupees. The land consisted of the villages of Lodhipur, Mianpur and Sahota. Here on the mound of Makhowal, Guru Tegh Bahadur raised a new habitation. The ground was broken on June 19, 1665, by Baba Gurditta Randhawa. The new village was named Chakk Nanaki after the Guru's mother, Nanaki. The place later came to be known as Anandpur Sahib.

The Takht Sahib proper is a square hall with a balcony in front overlooking a spacious courtyard on a lower level. In the middle of the inner domed room are placed some weapons preserved as sacred relics. The space being limited on the top of the hill, the sarovar is on the plain ground west of the Takht Sahib. A large spacious pavilion is also around for larger congregation. Although the town is small but on the occassion of Hola Mohalla every year in the month of March it booms into boisterous activities and recaptures its old glory and splendor.