Sackhand Siri Darbar Saheb

There is no doubt that everyone who has been blessed with a visit to sackhand Siri Darbar Saheb ji has been touched spiritualy or experianced special.

Please all share your experiances and feelings about Sachkhand Siri Darbar Saheb.

H.S

the first time i visited india, before i knew i would become a sikh, i was told to visit amritsar. i had planned out my trip in advance, thinking i would visit amritsar for two days, then move on to haridwar for the kumb mela. on the train to amritsar, i met a sikh woman who was coming back to amritsar after 20 years in america. she was very kind and when she learned i did not have a hotel booked, she called her brother who owned a hotel very close to darbar sahib. it was completely staffed by singhs and they were very polite to me.

at amrit vela, i was awoken by the sounds of beautiful music coming from outside my window. i quickly got dressed and followed the sounds of keertan until i reached darbar sahib. this was my first glimpse of the famous "golden temple". once inside the walls, i saw people were gathered near the akal takht. i walked towards them and someone handed me a handful of rose petals. i saw the people around me showering the rose petals on a beautiful golden throne that was being carried towards darbar sahib, so i followed suit. afterwards, my hands smelled like roses, and i saw the men picking up the petals to tuck into their turbans. the women were carefully picking up bits of cotton that had been used to clean and polish the palki sahib. other people were washing the marble walkway on hands and knees, with so much love, even in the bitter january cold. it was overwhelming. the beauty of the buildings, the sound of the keertan, the love and devotion of the sikhs...

i stayed in amritsar for longer than i had expected. every morning i went to darbar sahib. i bought an english gutka sahib and began to read japji sahib. a woman saw me in the mornings at darbar sahib and gave me a kara. she told me to wear it every day and whenever i thought to do something wrong, look at it as a reminder that god was watching and i should always do good. in my hotel i had kept a bottle of wine i had brought from the US. i looked at the kara and threw it into the garbage. i also threw out my tweezers and leg shaving supplies. from that first day at darbar sahib, i never again cut my hair and never again touched alcohol. i decided the hindu festival haridwar was not for me, so i remained in amritsar for a week. i decided to travel to anandpur sahib and fatehghar sahib. it literally changed my life.

10 months later i was blessed with khande de pahul.

i can't help but feel that guru sahib called me to darbar sahib that first amrit vela with his beautiful keertan. i owe my life to him for that.

That is magical experience. Story of Bhein Ji is very inspiring.

I was born at Amritsar and never know the drastic transformation coming to me after being there in Harminer Sahib. That was everything for us. That is part of our home. For those born in Amritsar; being away from Harminder Sahib is like being away from home. I am always home sick.

A simple regular uninspired visit to Harminder Sahib, used to change our state of mind. It was always fruitful. We felt like gained, back home.

Similar to Bhenji I only had intentions to briefly visit Amritsar, but such plans naturally change when people visit the most beautiful place in this world.

The first and only time I have been to India I had intentions to visit all the historical Gurdwaras. But because I was accompanied by my dad who is not much into religion I did not have the luxury to go were I wished. He was kind enough to take me to Amritsar . Throughout my time in Punjab I was quite depressed . I had high expectations of Sikhi in Punjab since Sikhi was born there but these expectations were not met. The state of Sikhi in the state of Punjab was quite depressing. So before I went to Amritsar I was in a depressed mood, but upon arriving at the gates of Sri Harmandir Sahib I was fulled with extreme happiness thanks to a dear friend. A Gurmukh Singh who helped me in my Sikhi who passed away some time ago was there at Sri Harmandir Sahib. I felt his presence/spirit there with me and he was communicating to me to be happy. I have no doubts that Sri Harmandir Sahib is the home of angels. How else did Sant Jarnail Singh and a few other Singhs defend it against the Indian army for numerous days?

When we got there my Dad said we will stay for 2 or 3 hours then we will leave. I told him no way was this possible and I cant go anywhere. He said we have to many things to do and to many people to see. After much bargaining I managed to let me stay for at least one night. Upon entering the sarovar I did panj Ishaan because I purposely wanted to full Ishaan during Amrit Vela. I remember seeing the fish in the sarvoar and thought how fortunate are such beings to get to listen to bani all day along and do Guru Jis seva.

Being in the most peaceful Harmandir Sahib i thought how can anyone attack this place. Upon entering this holy place one feels like they are in heaven. You would have to be a heartless beast to attack such a beautiful place. This whole spiritual environment really put me in the mood to do some seva. Because I was not Amritdhari I thought my chances of doing seva were slight. But with Guru Jis beant kirpa I was allowed to wash the dishes. This was such a thrilling experience to be with the sangat and clean the dished. The water that cleans the dishes is so pure.

The next morning I woke up and I decided to take full ishaan in the Amrit Sarovar. Upon existing the Amrit Sarovar my body was in complete bliss. My body has still never experienced so much bliss then that day. It was the holy water that put this mind and body in peace. I did not even want to take a shower for the next few days because I was afraid the peace would leave. Upon entering Sri Darbar Sahib I noticed there were many people waiting for Guru Jis darshan soI didnt think I had a chance to sit inside the Sri Darbar Sahib and listen to Kirtan. But as soon as I math tekhed somebody got up and I found a place rite across the raagi Singhs. When listening to the Kirtan at Sri Darbar Sahib I was completely humbled by the experience. I couldnt believe such a sinner like me was in the most beautiful place at the most beautiful time of the day. I felt like my life was worth something for being in such a sacred place.The kirtan hit me hard that I felt so unworthy of being in such a majestic realm. Sitting in the sri darbar sahib with the sangat I felt like we were on a boat swimming across this false world and sinking in Guru jis word/Shabad.

I cannot remember much after Amrit Vela. I think we might have left rite after amrit vela. I remember I was very thankful for those people who accompanied me to Amrit Vela. Even though some of them were monay , at the time I felt like they were the greatest saints for bringing me to such a holy place.

Not sure what one can write abt the place who doesnt exist anywhere else in the world. Every single person(irrespective of the rerligion/faith) in the world i met so far has either visited the Holy place or have urged a chance to be at this place once in his/her life.

I remember once when i was putting on the shoes in the JORA GHAR and someone touched me from my back and asked me, "DO YOU BELONG TO AMRITSAR" ? I replied YES and he said to me exactly in these words with tears in his eyes , "YOU ARE LUCKY, YOU MUST COME TO THIS PLACE EVERYDAY , THERE IS NO SUCH PLACE ELSEWHERE". This was a hindu gentleman who didnt undertand anything abt BANI. I then asked him "DO YOU UNDERSTAND BANI being READ" ? He said - NO , the environment itself is so good here that one forgets all worldly sadnesses and feels flying in the heaven.

The greatness of Siri Darbar Sahib was always enshrined in my heart but the real Darshan-Parsan of this great Teerath occurred when I went to India in 2004, after a gap of about 8-9 years. This time, I went with a group of Gurmukhs from Toronto but had Darshan of Siri Darbar Sahib only couple of weeks after we landed. It was an amazing experience.

For the first time, I did Gurmat Ishnaan at the Sarovar. As per our tradition, the Ishnaan of Siri Amritsar Sahib (Sarovar at Darbar Sahib) is done at Amritvela but before that Ishnaan of 4 surrounding Sarovars is done. So as per tradition, I started my Amritvela by doing Ishnaan at Siri Santokhsar. It is about 1 km from Siri Darbar Sahib.

From Santokhsar I walked to Siri Raamsar. This is the place where Siri Guru Arjun Dev jee compiled Siri Guru Granth Sahib jee. I had a strange experience here. As I was approaching the Sarovar, I had a blurry vision with open eyes (or perhaps a strong feeling) that I was going to have a bad fall here. 10 seconds later, as I set my foot on the first step of the stairs going downwards Siri Raamsar Sahib, my foot slipped. I could see that my legs were up in the air and I fell by my back. My back struck right on the edge of the sharp step of the stairs. As I was in the air, waiting to land, I knew with full faith that I would be unhurt. That’s exactly what happened. I did not feel a thing. In those days I used to weigh quite a lot and to fall by my back, on the edge of the step and to come out unhurt was nothing short of a miracle. It was purely Kirpa of Guru Sahib. Due to some Karma of past, I was to fall and get hurt but I fell, paying the Karmic debt without losing anything.

I thanked Guru Sahib, did Ishnaan and moved on to Siri Bibeksar, which is situated right across from Siri Raamsar. After doing Ishnaan at Siri Bibeksar Sahib, I walked to Siri Kaulsar. After doing Ishnaan at Siri Kaulsar, by big fortune, I did Ishnaan by at Siri Amritsar Sahib at Dukh bhanjni area. Incidently, the Shabad being sung at that time, at Siri Darbar Sahib was:

ਕਰਿ ਇਸਨਾਨੁ ਸਿਮਰਿ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਅਪਨਾ ਮਨ ਤਨ ਭਏ ਅਰੋਗਾ ॥

After doing Ishnaan and completing my Nitnem, I went to Siri Darbar Sahib. It was a very bairagmai time for me. It was a very spiritual experience. Complete peace was residing in the mind at that time.

A thought came to my mind and came very strongly at that time. Everyone was doing Dhan Guru Raamdaas! Dhan Guru Raamdaas! The thought came to my mind was about Siri Guru Arjun Dev jee. The greatness of Siri Guru Arjun Dev jee cannot be measured. I thought, Siri Darbar Sahib was constructed by Siri Guru Arjun Dev jee and even the Sarovar was completed by Siri Guru Arjun Dev jee. The whole city of Siri Amritsar Sahib was built by Siri Guru Arjun Dev jee but Siri Guru Arjun Dev jee worked in such mysterious and humble way that he totally hid himself. Siri Amritsar does Jai Jaikaar of Siri Guru Raamdaas jee. I was in a state of wonder, realizing the greatness of Siri Guru Arjun Dev jee.

Daas,
Kulbir Singh

Sadhsangat jee, please write your personal experiences with respect to Darshan of Darbar Sahib. We will be compiling all these stories and adding them to the Gurmat Literature Section, under a new heading, so that the Cyber Sangat can be inspired by these stories.

Please write generously.

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