Some 20 kms east of Tarn Taran is the small hamlet of Khadur; its history entwined with the lives of Guru Angad Dev and his successor, Guru Amardas. Khadur is blessed with six historical gurdwaras.
One day, Bhai Lehna, as Guru Angad Dev was then known, heard one of Guru Nanak Dev’s disciples Bhai Jodha chant the morning prayer, the Japji and the Asa di Var. The two hymns fell like balm on his restive mind. On his query he was informed that these were compositions of Guru Nanak Dev. He went to Kartarpur to meet the Guru and stayed on as his most devoted disciple.
Bhai Lehna’s devotion knew no bounds, and Guru Nanak Dev nominated him his successor. Guru Nanak made him sit on the gaddi, offerred him a cardamom and a coconut as he bestowed the Guruship on him; he also named him Angad or a Limb of his Body: ‘Between thee and me there is no difference. None of my Sikhs bath such faith and confidence in one as thou, and therefore I love thee most of all. Thou art verily ‘Angad’ a part of my body, I congratulate thee’. (Janamsakhi)
At Khadur Sahib, which soon became the hub of the growing sect, Guru Angad began to give a distinctive form to Sikhism. One of his first acts was to give the new religion a script. The propagation of the Gurmukhi script, the sacred language of the Gurus, gave a tremendous boost to the religion.
He also began to compile the sayings of Guru Nanak, later incorporated into the Adi Granth by Guru Arjan Dev, as well as chronicle his Guru’s travels.
The main gurdwara at Khadur is a sparkling white structure with a huge dome and a gold steeple, with four cupolas. This is popularly known as Angitha Sahib since it marks the cremation site of Guru Angad Dev. The archway is a double-storeyed structure within a larger cusped arch with seats on both sides of the base. The roof is decorated with projected eaves and surmounted by a parapet. Inside the hall, there is a domed marble pavilion that enshrines a rough wooden stub and is called the Killa (peg) Sahib or Khaddi (loom) Sahib. It was here that the third Guru, Guru Amardas had once stumbled over a weaver’s peg.
By Guru Angad’s order, Amardas lived in the newly-founded Goindwal. But, early each morning, he would fill a pitcher from the river Beas and carry it to Khadur Sahib. There he would bathe Guru Angad, wash his clothes and do seva in the langar. By evening he would return to Goindwal.
As the legend goes, one morning Amardas went towards the river Beas according to his daily routine. He filled the pitcher, recited the Japji and hastened back to Khadur Sahib. On the outskirts of the village, there lived many weavers and, in the dark, Amardas struck his foot against one of the loom pegs and fell into the weaver’s pit. Although he was injured, he managed to save the pitcher of water he was carrying for Guru Angad. However, woken by the noise, the weavers believed a thief was on the prowl, until one of the weaver’s wives said, ‘Have no fear, it is not thief, it is the poor, wretched, homeless Amru.”
Amardas replied, ‘I am not homeless, silly woman (kamli); my home is the Guru himself.’ Legend has it that the weaver’s wife became insane; many hakims were called but they could not cure her malady.
The weavers then went to the Guru to seek forgiveness. The Guru replied, ‘Amardas is not homeless. He shall be the home of the homeless, the honour of the unhonoured, the strength of the strengthless, the support of the unsupported, the shelter of the shelterless, the protector of the unprotected and the emancipator of the captives. Amardas has done great service. His words have been prophetic. The peg against which he struck his foot shall become green, and the weaver’s wife shall recover. He who will serve Amardas will get his desires fulfilled.’ True to his words, the woman did recover and the peg is preserved to this day in the gurdwara.
The other gurdwaras in Khadur Sahib are Gurdwara Mall Akhara, Gurdwara Mai Bharai, Gurdwara Tharra Sahib Guru Amardas, Gurdwara Tap Asthan and Gurdwara Japiana Sahib.
Of these, Tharra Sahib is perhaps the most significant. When Guru Angad foresaw his death in early 1552, he gave some copper coins and a coconut to Amardas and seated him on the gaddi, asking Baba Buddha to anoint him. This gurdwara commemorates the moment when a devoted and humble man attained a spiritual throne.