Gurudwara(A Sikhtemple) Shri Paththar Sahib In High Altitude Area

A Travel to a Sikh Historic Place:   

Gurudwara   Shri Paththar   Sahib

If you go to Leh (a place in West Jammu and Kashmir) by air you would reach there in one hour from Delhi but whether you go by road it would take 4 days as the route is treacherous and full of twists and turns. As you reach there you have to acclimatise yourself for 6 days (when you plan a stay of more than a week)  if you do not want to start sick otherwise people adopt a minimum rest of 3 days to be on the safer side for short visits. If you come by road this problem does not occur as the route itself takes care of it.  Leh is an high altitude area having 11000 feet plus elevation and is cold from Oct to April and excessively cold (below minus 15 degree Celsius) from Nov to Feb.  While going towards Kargil from Leh at about 25 Kms from there is a Sikh Historic Temple (Gurudwara),named  ‘Shri Paththar Sahib’ which is manned by the units of Indian Army on turn basis and hence nicely maintained both from caretaking and calibre of Langar (Free Kitchen) point of view. In addition the transporters passing and halting there  donate lot of rations with which the free kitchen(Langar) and expenditure of the Gurudwara runs.

It is stated from the acquirable records held at the place that the first Guru of Sikhs ,’Shri Guru Nanak Dev ji’ had visited this place in 16th century  and the history goes on as follows :-

Guru Nanak Dev ji during his moment journey (1515-1518 AD) in 1517 AD  had reached here after giving his preachings in  ‘Sumer’ mountains after passing from Nepal, Sikkim and Tibet via the ‘Yarkand’ route. There lived an evil  demon on the hill just opposite to the place where the Gurudwara is now located. The demon used to harass the locals a lot and would take them absent after killing them. Guru Nanak on hearing this from the people reached here and established himself approach the river by taking an Asan (Sitting position with crossed legs while praying as followed in Indian culture) at the foothill. Seeing this the locals took a sigh of relief but the demon did not like this and planned to kill the Guru. One day while the Guru was busy praying almighty while in meditation, the demon taking advantage of the situation pushed a heavy stone towards him from up the hill so that the Guru would be crushed to death but as it is stated ‘One who is fortified by the lord can't be harmed by anyone’(Jaako rakhey saayiyaa maar sakey na koye) a miracle happened  in which as the huge stone touched the Guru it became like a wax in which  the rear part of the Guru’s body got embedded into it and his meditation remained undisturbed. Assuming that the Guru died, the demon fortunately came down from the hill approach the stone and was astonished to see the Guru hail hearty and live. Seeing this he got annoyed and kicked the stone with his right foot which also got embedded into the stone. Then did the demon realise that due to his stupidity he tried to kill a devotee of God and fell at the Guru’s feet to pardon him. The Guru opened his eyes and adviced  him to devote his remaining life in service of mankind for only then he will be well wished. The demon took his advice and followed it after which he started living a happy life. After sometime the Guru went to Kashmir from this place via Kargil.