Chola Sahib Jorh Mela at Dera Baba Nanak: the cloak of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji

The Chola Sahib Jorh Mela is held each year in early March at Dera Baba Nanak, in Gurdaspur district, close to the border with Pakistan. It centres on the Chola Sahib, a cloak kept at the gurdwara of that name and believed by tradition to have been given to Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji on his travels to the west.

The Chola Sahib

The Chola Sahib is a long cloak covered in writing in Arabic script, with verses and names in praise of the Divine. Tradition holds that it was presented to Guru Nanak Dev Ji by admirers during his udasi to the lands of Islam, often said to be at Baghdad or Mecca, as a mark of the respect in which he was held. It was kept by the Guru's descendants and later came to Dera Baba Nanak, where it is shown to the sangat at the mela. Historians have discussed its origin and its inscriptions, and sangats regard it with deep reverence.

Dera Baba Nanak

Dera Baba Nanak stands on the Indian side of the Ravi, across the river from Kartarpur, where Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji spent his last years. After his passing, his family settled here, and the town grew around the dera of the Guru's descendants. Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in the town is associated with the Guru's visits. Since 2019 the Kartarpur Corridor has begun here, letting pilgrims cross without a visa to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur, a few kilometres away.

The Jorh Mela

For several days the town fills with sangats for kirtan, Ardas and langar, and for the showing of the Chola Sahib. Many pilgrims also visit the viewing platform from which Kartarpur Sahib can be seen across the border.