Dr. Harleen Kaur's Sojourn to Historical Toka Sahib Gurudwara
"Chirian te mein baaz tudaun,gidran to mein sher banaun,sawa lakh se ek ladaun,tabe gobind singh naam kahaun."
Toka Sahib gurdwara,
established in honour of Guru Gobind Singh, who visted this place twice, is
situated in the peaceful area of Village Tota in Sirmaur district of Himachal
Pradesh, at the border of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana and is approximately 20
Km's from Naraingarh. A bridge road connects Toka Sahib with the city of
Naraingarh (Haryana) (Pic1)https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Je6SwKAD8b14LVqqUkrIV69Y4JzAwyg0. To reach the
shrine one has to cross the Roon River (Pic 2)https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EqdbU6oM6_-IX7GQPhR9iFh7IdmAmMh0.
The natural surroundings of Gurdwara and the
low population of the area make this a very
serene place. The old Gurdwara Sahib was a modest flat roofed room, with
an all round verandah, now a new
building of gurdwara sahib is coming up
dismantling the old one.
This gurdwara has a historic significance as
the accounts tell us of two visits by the Father of the Khalsa Guru gobind
singh ji.
§ According to a slab
(inscribed in 1968), Guru Gobind Singh ji came here with
2200 horsemen in 1685 to help Raja Medini Prakash of Nahan.
§ According to Gurushabad
Ratanakar Mahan Kosh (by Kahan Singh Nabha,(encyclopedia of Sikh Scripture,books, Sikh achievers) Guru Gobind Singh stayed here on his
way back from Ponta Sahib to Anandpur Sahib in 1688.
Guru Gobind Singh Ji won the battle of
Bhangani in 1688. When he, along with many Sikhs was returning to the city
of Sri Anandpur Sahib Ji, he reached near a
small village of Toka.The majority of residents of village Toka
were ‘Rangharhs’. They were thieves. They got a chance and entered the camp of
Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s army. They managed to take two camels with them. As soon
as Sikh soldiers did not find two camels, they informed Guru Gobind Ji. Guru Ji
called ‘Rangharhs’ of the village and enquired about camels. ‘Rangharhs’ refused
blatantly that they haven’t seen and other thieves must have stolen them.
Then
Guru ji called few people from another village, named ‘Laaha’ at some distance,
where the residents were poor and asked to go to Rangharhs’ village as beggars.
A resident of village ‘Laaha’ went to village ‘Toka’ as if he was a beggar and
found both of camels in the village. He
informed about it. Then, Guru Ji called ‘Rangharhs’ of village ‘Toka’ again.
‘Rangharhs’ were now frightened because their crime was highlighted and proved.
They apologized to Guru Ji. Guru Ji said, “The residents of village ‘Laaha’
will always get ‘Laaha’ (profit) and residents of ‘Toka’ will face ‘Tota’
(loss)”.
I
often visit Gurdwara Toka Sahib along
with my school staff on poornmashi or sankranti (Pic 1) as
its vey near to our school Mount Carmel International School. There is no
population near Gurdwara Sahib, so this place is very peaceful. The village of
‘Toka’ still exists. Because the Gurdwara is built on village Toka’s land,
hence named as ‘Gurdwara Toka Sahib’.
Things of historic
significance related to gurudwara what I found were:
DarbarSahib:
The Darbar Sahib has
been constructed on the foothill. Sometimes ago the Gurdwara Sahib consisted of
a modest flat roofed surrounded by a veranda, but now it is dismantled (Pic3)https://drive.google.com/open?id=1AISAAEvEcjleOevh2iUOBtPUA4PCkoYG and a new building of gurudwara sahib will
be constructed & we were lucky to go on the first day of the construction (Pic 4 )https://drive.google.com/open?id=1jlgnX6Ty5S95JDjM3JWTPgBfTM3SARGA. Until the new darbar sahib is constructed, a
temporary gurdwara sahib has been constructed( Pic 5)https://drive.google.com/open?id=18GbEfzsY536yqeLQDPjFSLjAL8p-jROR . A Management trust led by Sardar satnam
singh ji is framed which controls the ceremonies
& working of Gurdwara. There is a huge congregation on days of Gurupurab ,
full moon days etc.
BhoraSahib:
There
is a sacred bhora Sahib inside the darbar sahib, where Guru Gobind Singh ji stayed for
few days, but as the darbar sahib (old one) has been dismantled, so even this
is also dismantled for the construction of new one.
Mango Tree:
There
is a old sacred Mango tree (Pic
6)https://drive.google.com/open?id=1C347pYOMnYMpHuuTMW-2Nz_djW-8rsH7
present behind the Darbar sahib complex. According to early sources, it was
said, that, after eating a Mango, Guru ji threw away the seed which soon took
root and grew into a small Mango plant that today has grown into a Big Mango
tree with branches laid down over the ground. Butnow it is said that it was
planted by the Guru himself.
BlackBerryTree:
When
Guru ji stayed over here he used to tie the horses with Small hooks of Blackberry
tree. Still there are 4 huge Blackberry (Pic 7)https://drive.google.com/open?id=1NzryHyhv820EsLh34qFdiXUzc3Zri8JS trees
over there from that time, now which is used by the sangat to sit in shaade.
OldWell:
There is an old well(Pic 8)https://drive.google.com/open?id=1cpg4TSePHqbufADL2UnUfnh8fXs0kw-L here which, according to an inscription, was
dug in 1823 "in memory of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Nawab Fateh
Singh Ahluwalia."
YaadgaarShahidan:
Two
Sikh soldiers who were wounded in the battle of Bhangani, died here. A small
building of a Gurdwara is built as their memorial on the bank of ‘Sarovar’ (pond)
(Pic 9 A)https://drive.google.com/open?id=1mvtpmPsKuPgX417lNn4aau5fByG8gQXy.(pic 9A)https://drive.google.com/open?id=1V86XVqtvX5Ayi5jiM3nbK0c79PyBN3mR
Kangha
Sahib Aka Tap Asthaan Guru Gobind Singh:
This
is an another Gurdwara which is a few meters away and located above small hill
and under the boundary of Gurudwara Toka Shaib(Pic 10)https://drive.google.com/open?id=1YY3KMGR_Ow9oTxwIz6zoWDh5Gk_DsXbR.
It is said that Guru Gobind Singh ji after bathing in river Roon combed his
hair. This is also the Tap Asthaan of Guru Gobind Singh. There is a Bridal path
to go there, but one can go only on foot. Distance is just of 100 to 150
meters. Here, Guru Ji used to meditate in a solitary and peaceful place.
NeemTree:
The
Sacred Neem tree is present near the Tap Asthaan (Pic 11)https://drive.google.com/open?id=14OOGgxgeKSVZOgY2TQd0wZsR4etbvkuj there
which is of Gurus time, it is said while brushing with neem twig guru when
throw the twig away in soil. The twig became a Neem tree.
Bambootree:
It
is said that Guru Gobind Singh Ji after combing hair
dugged the hair which remained with Kanga. From that hair Bamboos grow up
there.But when we took a round We could not see the bamboo tree instead the
sewadaar showed us a dry tedu tree.
The
village of ‘Toka’ still exists. Because the Gurdwara is built on village Toka’s
land, it is named as ‘Gurdwara Toka Sahib’. A Management trust is framed which now controls the
ceremonies & working of Gurdwara.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1AbtkII_8dlgiPSVBKmROoiU8i1nmY-YH
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Dlcx-7IpREzs9LMeR3bc85GNFGLBYPuw
https://drive.google.com/open?id=10XnMxzk2MkordQS6YEmX7IOAV-Jc1SGk
Dr. (Mrs.) Harleen Kaur (Principal/Author/Editor/Speaker):
Dr. (Mrs.) Harleen Kaur is presently the Founder Principal of Mount Carmel N.gh. International School Naraingarh, (Ambala). She has done her Ph.D in Medical Biotechnology from Punjabi University (Patiala) and did her research work at ICMR(Belgaum) and AFMC(Pune). She and her team at ICMR were first to submit a sequence of PVL gene from Staphylococcus aureus in NCBI gene Bank, Geneva from India. She has published books & various papers in national and international journals, and has 15 years of experience in teaching Biology &Biotechnology at senior secondary level. Not only this, she has been appointed External Examiner and Paper Setter Evaluator for Biology and Biotechnology for XII standard by C.B.S.E board, and also holds the credit of setting Biotechnology labs at Guru Harkrishan Public School (Vasant Vihar, Delhi) and Army Public School (Pune). She has also been awarded appreciation letter by Army Welfare Education Society (AWES) for her dedication towards the excellent XII board results and Edu Heal Foundation (Delhi) for active promotion of Olympiad Exam. Mission News (A web based Portal) honoured her for her distinguished work in education sector. She is the resource person for the world’s leading publishing company, Pearson. Owning to her strong army background, she has widely travelled and has been exposed to the best teaching-learning pedagogies in various institutes. So, her aura has been very much magnified by this in her character sketch that she has an urge to innovate and develop something novel in her staff, students and most importantly in herself. Please get in touch with her:
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| Dr.harleen Kaur Being Felicitated At Toka Sahib Gurudwara By the Management |
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| Dr.harleen Kaur Principal MCI with Management of Toka Sahib |
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