Gurdwara Baba Bakala

This historical shrine is situated about 45 kms away from Amritsar at village Baba Bakala on Gurdaspur road, just a kilometer away from Rayya. Baba Bakala has many historial Gurdwaras and shrines and is famous for an important event in the Sikh history associated with Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib and Makhan Shah Labhana. It was here that Guru Sahib was proclaimed as the ninth Guru of the Sikhs by the congregation of the devotees.

On 30th March, 1664, eigth Sikh Guru, Sri Guru Harkrishan Sahib at the time of his death mentioned to his followers that his successor is in Baba Bakala and could be found there. Hearing this, many relatives of Guru Sahib came forward and claimed to be his next successor. Sikh devotees got confused at seeing so many claimants as they were unable to figure out the true Guru.

Meanwhile a rich businessman Makhan Shah Labhana with his ship full load of valuable goods got stuck in the middle of a severe storm at sea. He prayed to Guru and vowed to pay five hundred gold coins to Guru for charity purposes if he and his goods reach the port safely. With the grace of Guru Sahib, ship reached the port safely and as promised Makhan Shah Labhana went in search of the Guru. He came to know about the last words of Sri Guru Harkrishan Sahib so he started his journey towards Baba Bakala.

When he reached Baba Bakala, he found many men posing as true Guru. He was confused as he could not find the real Guru so he thought of donating two gold coins each to the twenty two claimants as a tribute. He was about to leave but then he heard about another saint living across the street. He was told that his name is Teg Bahadur who is in meditation for many years. Makhan Shah thought of paying a tribute to him as well.

When Makhan Shah went into the small mud hut, he saw Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib in meditation. He waited until Guru Sahib came out of his meditation. After sometime Guru Sahib opened his eyes and saw Makhan Shah who placed two gold coins in front of him. At seeing this, Guru Sahib said,”God bless you but why only two gold coins when you have pledged five hundred.” Makhan Shah was so amazed that he touched and kissed the Gurus feet and climbed the stairs to the rooftop to pronounce that he had found the real and true Guru. He reached the rooftop and shouted to the people of Bakala,”Guru Ladho Rey, Guru Ladho Rey (I’ve found the Guru).”

All the Sikh devotees rushed towards the house of the saint and Makhan Shah told them the entire story. The devotees were very happy and celebrated for many days. Thus the humble quiet saint in Baba Bakala was acclaimed as the ninth Guru of the Sikhs. Since this historic event in Bakala, the village has become a holy place of pilgrimage and was named as Baba Bakala. Today, a beautiful Gurdwara stands at the place where Guru Sahib used to meditate. This Gurdwara has many beautiful paintings related to Sikh history. Devotees visit Gurdwara in thousands on every amavas night. Besides this, every year an annual fair is held where many people come and pay homage at this holy place from all over the country.