The name 'Fatehgarh', refers to the 'Town of Victory', because in 1710 Sikhs under the leadership of Banda Bahadur overran the city and razed the fort that was built during Balban's rule to the ground.
The city of Fatehgarh Sahib is historically vital for the Sikhs as two younger sons (aged 9years and 6years) of 10th guru Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji were buried alive underlay by the Governor of Sirhind Wazir Khan. By taking the revenge of the death of Guru’s younger son’s by Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, two Sikh temples (Gurudwaras) were built. One of the places where both the princes were martyred and the other one is where their funeral was held.
My visit to the holy city: Fatehgarh Sahib
After the completion of final exams of my Post Graduation, my friends decided to visit at Gurudwaras of Fatehgarh Sahib.
Image: Gurudwara Shri Fatehgarh Sahib where two younger sons of 10th guru Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji were buried alive underlay
Image: night view of Gurudwara Jyoti Saroop Sahib, Where funeral of Guru Gobind Singh Ji's two younger son’s was held.
Apart from religious places, Fatehgarh Sahib city has very few tourist attractions such as Aam Khas Bagh and Khanda museum is under construction just behind bus stand.
Image: A view of Aam Khas Bagh
There are not many places for tourist attractions in the city, but if a person has interest in discovering historical places and has some religious value, Fatehgarh Sahib could be one of the good options. Moreover, the tour for this city could be done within little time. Tourists need not plan for a long time.
Traveling and staying options
Fatehgarh Sahib City is well connected by road as well as railways. This city is approachable from the State capital of Punjab and Haryana. However, staying could be a problem in this city as the only option is to book a room in public houses of Gurudwara's at cheapest price.
Best time to visit
Accordingly, anyone could visit this city during any season but, (if a visitor is not afraid to visit in a huge crowd) in the ending week of every year, a fair has been organized in the city for three days, in the memory of younger princes of Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji. This according to me is the best time to visit the place for its sheer vibrancy and the positive Vibes.
Things to do in Fatehgarh Sahib
If a tourist is a religious person and has the curiosity to know about religious history than it could be a good place for. All kind of religious stuff such as Kirpan (sword), Kangha (a wooden comb), Kadah (Bracelet made of iron, steel, and copper) and literature about Sikh religion, true story books about the heroes of the religion and also about the brief history of the city can buy from here. All the literature is available in Punjabi, Hindi as well as English languages.
The food and the cuisine
Despite the things mentioned above, if I talk about food, this city has tremendous options for eating. Gurudwara's have their own langar halls where rich or poor have to eat by sitting on the ground in a line. Also available are hotels like Noormahal Regency, Samosa Express, Subway, Shiv Shakti and several non-vegetarian cuisine options. There are Restaurants with a plethora of international (Indianised) and domestic tastes in Chinese, Italian, South Indian, Punjabi and Kashmiri food choices are accessible.
People in the city
Locals of the city are very friendly and helpful. Here, visitors can experience friendly relationships among Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims. Even tourists can find people from other religions inside Gurudwaras. About this, I would like to share that in the fair of 2017, Muslims gave space for Sikhs to prepare food for the visitors inside their Mosque (Roza Sharee). All festivals are celebrated by the person from all religions and caste with same interest and joy.
Apart from it, I would like to share an incident; during our visit to the holy city a tourist from Kerala lost his wallet somewhere. So he was looking for help everywhere, he went to Fatehgarh Sahib gurudwara and met with caretakers and managers. After finding his problem genuine, they helped him with cash and booked his ticket for his destination, as well as they packed food for him.
If a visitor facing any kind of problem in Fatehgarh Sahib City, they can contact Police and also can ask for help to Gurudwara management committee. Sikh Temples are 24/7 open for its visitors even if they want food in the middle of the night.
Some other facts about Fatehgarh Sahib City
Fatehgarh Sahib is a developing city; it has numerous options for eating vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods. It has a big Law college (Lincoln College of Law), Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Engineering and Diploma college, Mata Gujri College besides newly framed University, named Guru Granth Sahib World University. It also has a world-class education providing school Baba Zorawar Singh and Baba Fateh Singh school.
This city became a district in the year 1992. Fatehgarh Sahib City ranks first in the Swacch and Swast Bharat. Aam Khas Bagh is also famous as many of the stars choose this place for their movie or video song shooting. A short movie on Shaheed Bhagat Singh was completely shot in Aam Khas Bagh, in which famous stars of Punjabi film industry Shivinder Mahal, Ravinder Grewal and Victor Johns was in lead roles.
My views about Fatehgarh Sahib
Some details about fair (Shaheede Jorh Mela):
As per Gurmukhi calendar, the fair starts every year from 11th of Poh month (during December month). At different places, religious storytellers narrate the story of younger princes and their grand-mother Mata Gujri Kaur Ji. In the story, they recite about how the governor of Sirhind tortures them. During these three days, every person sleeps on the ground as Mata Ji and her grandsons were pressurized to sleep on the floor without any warm cloth during coldest days of winter days.
Image: Palki Sahib yatra or nagar kirtan
In the last day of fair, a Palki Sahib procession takes place from Gurudwara Fatehgarh sahib to Gurudwara Jyoti Saroop sahib. A huge crowd follows this procession barefoot till it reaches its destination.
Another image of Palki Sahib
Visitors to this fair can witness a huge crowd, who pay tribute to younger sons and mother of 10th Guru Shri Guru Gobind Singh ji.
A fact about Gurudwara Jyoti Saroop Sahib
The land of Gurudwara Jyoti Saroop Sahib is still the costliest land which bought by Diwan Todar Mal from Governer Wazir Khan on the 12 December 1705 for not renouncing their faith and the death of their grandmother from the shock at the news of the sudden and despicable execution of the innocent youngsters. This wealthy merchant had to cover the required ground for cremation with 78000 gold coins to get the release of the three bodies in the 40,000 cm square.
Contributed by -
Harneet, Punjab
Harneet, Punjab
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