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Muktsar fair
The Muktsar fair is one of the largest Sikh fairs held in
Punjab. The fair is held in the middle of January on the Makar Sankranti
day.
The festival is in commemoration of a battle fought in
1705-1706 by Guru Gobind
Singh against the pursuing imperial forces which overtook him here and cut his
followers to pieces. The Guru himself escaped and had the bodies of his
followers disposed of with the usual rites. He declared that they had all
obtained mukti and promised the same blessing to all his followers, who should
thereafter, on the anniversary of that day, bathe in the Holy pool which had been
filled by rain from heaven in answer to his prayer for water. On this spot a
fine tank was afterwards dug by Maharaja Ranjit Singh and called Muktsar (the
pool of Salvation).
It is one of the great Sikh festivals, and lasts three days. On the first
day the worshippers bathe is the sacred tank. On the second day the people go in
a procession (mohalla) to the three holy mounds which lie to the north-west of
the town, namely, Rikab Sahib, Tibbi Sahib and Mukhwanjana Sahib. The Rikab
Sahib, a mound formed out of the handfuls of earth
taken from the tank by the faithful and thrown there, commemorates the spot
where the Guru's stirrup broke. The procession goes up the slope to the Tibbi
Sahib which, crowned with a Gurudwara, is the mound where Guru Gobind Singh
stood and aimed his arrows at the imperial forces. The devotes then proceed to
the Mukhwanjana Sahib where the Guru is said to have cleaned his teeth with a
tooth-stick. Prayers are offered here and the devotes then return. This mound
has been built in the same way as the Rikab Sahib. On their return trip people
visit the Tambu Sahib where the Guru's tent was
pitched before the fight started, the Shahid Ganj, which is the Samadhi of the
forty martyrs and the Darbar Sahib, where the Guru held his Darbar after the
cremation of the slain.
Other
Fairs
Another big fair is held for four days every year in Malerkotla at the shrine
of Haider Sheikh. It is largely attended. It is believed that if childless women
visit the shrine and offers rots (large sweet cakes) specially cooked, they will
be blessed with child.
There are various other small fairs which are similarly held in
memory of Saints and Sages. On the 14th of Chet, a fair is held
in Dhesian Sang (Philaur) at the shrine and in honor of Baba Sang. Another fair is held at the
tomb of Khwaja Roshan in Har on every first Thursday after the new moon. In
Nakodar, a Hindu-Muslim fair is held at village Kara at the shrine of Mir Shah
Husain, who, according to legend, lived about five hundred years ago. At Khatkar
Kalan (Navanshehar), a fair is held on Baisakhi day in memory of Baba Jawahar
Singh. Another fair, Shiv Chaudas, is held at Paddi Matwali (Navanshehar ) on
the 14th of Chet on the bank of the river Bein.
In March, at Nathana
(Ferozepur) a fair is held in honor of a Hindu Saint, Kalu. He is said to have dug a large pond in one scoop and deposited the dug-up
earth in a closely heap which now forms the object of popular veneration.
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