Joti Jot Purab of Sri Guru Harkrishan Sahib Ji: serving the sick in Delhi

The Joti Jot Purab of Sri Guru Harkrishan Sahib Ji remembers the day in 1664 when the eighth Sikh Guru, still a child of about eight, completed his life on earth in Delhi. Sikhs remember him as the Bal Guru, and for the compassion he showed the sick in his last days.

Called to Delhi

His elder brother, Ram Rai, disputed his Guruship and asked the emperor Aurangzeb to intervene, and the young Guru was summoned to Delhi. Raja Jai Singh of Amber, a noble at the court, offered him his bungalow in the city, where Gurdwara Bangla Sahib now stands. Tradition remembers that the Guru never met the emperor, and that the Raja's queen, testing him, dressed as a maid among her attendants, and the child walked past the others to sit in her lap.

Serving the sick

That year smallpox and cholera spread through Delhi. The Guru went among the sick of every faith, comforting them and giving them water from the well at the bungalow, and many recovered. He caught smallpox himself. As he lay ill, the sangat asked who would lead them after him. He asked for five paise and a coconut, moved them in a circle, and said only Baba Bakale, the Baba is at Bakala, pointing to his great-uncle, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji.

How the day is observed

His last rites took place on the bank of the Yamuna, where Gurdwara Bala Sahib now stands. Sangats gather for kirtan, katha and Ardas at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib and Gurdwara Bala Sahib, many praying for those who are ill, and take home water from the sarovar at Bangla Sahib.