Marriage of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji and Mata Jito Ji at Guru Ka Lahore

This day remembers the marriage in 1677 of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji and Mata Jito Ji, at a place in the hills near Anandpur Sahib that has been known ever since as Guru Ka Lahore. It is celebrated on Basant Panchmi with a mela at Guru Ka Lahore, in the Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh.

Why Guru Ka Lahore

Mata Jito Ji was the daughter of Bhai Hari Jas, a Sikh of Lahore. Her family wished the wedding to be held in Lahore with the Guru's procession coming to them. But the Guru, then a young man of about eleven, could not travel there in safety, since the Mughal authorities were hostile after the shaheedi of his father, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji. So the Guru's family arranged for a small town to be laid out in the hills a few miles north of Anandpur Sahib, and named it Lahore, so that the bride's family could say the wedding had taken place at Lahore. It is remembered as Guru Ka Lahore, the Guru's Lahore.

The springs of Guru Ka Lahore

Tradition remembers that there was no water at the place, and that the Guru struck the ground with his spear and his arrow, and springs came out that still flow, called Tir Ganga and Paatal Ganga.

Mata Jito Ji

Mata Jito Ji was the mother of three of the Chaar Sahibzade: Baba Jujhar Singh Ji, Baba Zorawar Singh Ji and Baba Fateh Singh Ji. She lived at Anandpur Sahib, where she passed away in 1700, and Gurdwara Mata Jito Ji at Agampur, near Anandpur Sahib, keeps her memory.

How the day is observed

Sangats gather at Gurdwara Guru Ka Lahore on Basant Panchmi for kirtan, Ardas and langar.