Some 10 kms southeast of Khadur Sahib, across vast stretches of irrigated fields, lies Goindwal, perhaps the first pilgrimage centre of Sikhism. Lying on the right bank of the Beas it is connected by road to Tarn Taran in the west and Sultanpur Lodhi in the east.
Guru Angad Dev asked his disciple Amardas to set up a new religious establishment. The latter settled on a little hamlet belonging to one Gonda that lay on the trunk route between Delhi and Lahore. The third guru lived here and introduced elements to bind the nascent community. He began holding annual fairs and festivals on Baisakhi. Guru Amardas preached against Sati and advocated widow remarriage. He asked women to discard the purdah; and introduced new birth, marriage and death ceremonies.
Guru Amardas also made the langar an integral activity of the Sikh community. He insisted that anyone who wanted to see him had to first partake of food at the lanqar – (first sit in a row in the kitchen, then seek the Guru’s company).
He also decided to build a baoli or stepped well. He welcomed men and women of all castes and creeds to take water from the baoli so that age-old barriers of caste and creed could be destroyed. The baoli at Goindwal, completed in 1559, lies in the eastern part of the large blackand-white chequered courtyard.
The baoli is entered through a wide, pointed archway and the structure is surmounted by a large fluted dome. There are projected eaves on all sides, while the front face also has a row of small turrets. The cornice under the dome is multi-coloured with floral designs. Murals of the Gurus and various Sikh generals decorate the archway.
The baoli’s 84 steps that lead down to the water’s edge, is an extension of the popular Sikh belief that the body undergoes 84,00,000 incarnations as sundry animals and birds before being born as a human. According to popular belief, the pilgrim who bathes in the waters of Baoli Sahib and then recites the Japji on each of the 84 steps is said to attain spiritual liberation from these 84,00,000 karmic life cycles.
Go down the steps on any day and there will be crowds of people making their way down the marble steps to the baoli’s surprisingly clean waters. There are separate enclosures for women and men to take their holy dips and the air is heavy with the sound of the Japji being chanted.
The main gurdwara, standing next to the baoli, sparkles white against the chequerboard of the courtyard. It is quite typical with a large dome tipped with a gold pinnacle – four cupolas echoing the main dome in shape and the ubiquitous facade of turrets, elliptical cornices and projected windows.
At the centre of the double-storeyed building is the room that was once occupied by Guru Amardas. It has ornate walls and a ceiling artistically decorated with glass and coloured stones. Legend has it that it was here that the Mughal emperor, Akbar met the Guru. The Guru had issued strict instructions that no one was to see him without partaking of the langar. Emperor Akbar duly sat and shared langar with the rest of the sangat. He enjoyed the meal and asked the Guru if there were some special ingredients in the food that made it so delicious. At which, the Guru quipped that there was nothing special, just God’s grace that was added to the food. Akbar offered a large estate in the name of the Guru’s daughter, Bibi Bhaniji, for sustaining this langar system.