Baba Budha Ji: the first granthi of Sri Harmandir Sahib, and the Jorh Mela at Thatha

Baba Budha Ji is remembered three times in the Nanakshahi calendar: on his birth anniversary, and on the two days of the Jorh Mela at Gurdwara Bir Baba Budha Sahib, Thatha, near Amritsar. He lived through the time of six Gurus, and no other Sikh served the Guru's house for so long.

The wise boy

He was born Bura in 1506 at Kathu Nangal, near Amritsar. Sikh tradition tells that as a boy herding cattle he met Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, brought him milk, and asked how to be free of the fear of death; the Guru said he spoke with the wisdom of an old man, a budha, and the name stayed with him.

Servant of six Gurus

Baba Budha Ji applied the tilak of Guruship to five Gurus, from Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji to Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji. He oversaw the digging of the sarovar at Amritsar, and when Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji installed the Adi Granth at Sri Harmandir Sahib in 1604, he was appointed its first granthi. He taught the young Hargobind Sahib Ji, and tradition remembers that Mata Ganga Ji walked to his forest camp, at the place now called Bir Baba Budha Sahib, with food she had made by hand, to ask his blessing for a son.

The Jorh Mela at Thatha

He passed away at Ramdas in 1631, and Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji himself performed his last rites. The Jorh Mela at Gurdwara Bir Baba Budha Sahib, Thatha, draws large sangats, many of them couples praying for children, with kirtan, katha, Ardas and langar. Gurdwaras everywhere also mark his birth anniversary.