Joti Jot Purab of Sri Guru Amar Das Ji and the Goindwal Sahib Jorh Mela

The Joti Jot Purab of Sri Guru Amar Das Ji remembers the day in 1574 when the third Sikh Guru completed his life on earth at Goindwal Sahib, at the age of about ninety-five, having entrusted the Guruship to Sri Guru Ram Das Ji. The day is marked by a Jorh Mela at Goindwal Sahib.

Twenty-two years as Guru

Sri Guru Amar Das Ji became Guru in his seventies and led the Sikhs for about twenty-two years. He made Goindwal Sahib the centre of the faith and built its baoli, a step-well reached by eighty-four steps. He made langar a condition of meeting him, so that rich and poor, high caste and low, sat in one line and ate the same food. He divided the growing community into twenty-two manjis, appointed preachers among them women, spoke against sati and purdah, and set Vaisakhi, Diwali and Maghi as days when Sikhs gathered at Goindwal. He composed Anand Sahib, sung at the close of every Sikh service and at every Anand Karaj.

The passing of the Guruship

Before his passing he chose his son-in-law, Bhai Jetha Ji, over his own sons, and asked the family and the sangat to bow to him as Guru Ram Das. Tradition remembers that he asked that no one weep for him, but that kirtan be sung instead.

The Jorh Mela at Goindwal

Pilgrims come to Goindwal Sahib in large numbers for the Jorh Mela. Many walk down the eighty-four steps of the baoli and recite Japji Sahib once on each step, a practice tradition links to freedom from the cycle of eighty-four lakh births, and bathe in its water. Gurdwaras everywhere hold kirtan and Ardas.