Friday, July 20, 2012: Sikh religious leaders of Odisha urged the Prime Minister Manmohan Sangh , the Chief Minister of Punjab, Chief Minister of Odisha and the president of Shiromoni Gurdwara Prabandhank Committee(SGPC) to preserve a tank which was dug in 1506 by the followers of Guru Nanak during his visit to Jajpur.
Recently some persons covered up earth and sand in the pond and trying to build houses over the holy tank for which we wrote letters to them to take action against the persons who illegally acquired the holy pond, said Gurubachan Singh Gill the president of Odisha Skih association.
On Wednesday, a team of Sikh leaders met the collector regarding this illegal act by some persons and the collector directed local Tahasildar and other officials to take action against the persons who dumped earth in the pond.
"The district administration will this pond and its nearby land to Sikhs to build a Gurudwar", said Anil Samal the collector of Jajpur. This is one of the holiest places in the world for Sikh devotees. Legend tells that the Guru and his followers arrived here during the summer season and found little water to quench their thirst. For which one thousand devotes dug the pond one day. The memory of Guru Nanak the founder of Sikh religion on the verge oblivion in Jajpur thanks to the gross negligence on the part of the authority, said Gill. " Legend shows that Nanak arrived at Puri with his disciples reached Puri covering Cuttack, Jajpur , Bhadrak . These days, the general population of Jajpur do not know anything about Guru Nanaks visit to Jajpur on his way to Puri, and particularly about the historical places connected with Guru Nanaks name, said Gill.
Sikhs have made some unsuccessful attempts to acquire those places for the purpose of building Gurudwaras, but due to political complications, the attempts have failed due to one reason or the other. Nearly twenty-five years ago, a team of scholars from Guru Nanak Dev University submitted an interesting report on the different places in Orissa including Jajpur associated with the memory of Guru Nanak. Guru Nanak along the historic pilgrimage route, running via Bhadrak, Jajpur, Cuttack and finally reaching Puri on June 1506, added Gill.
"Five years back a group of Sikh scholars and some local Sikhs urged the district administration to preserve the altar (gadi) of Guru Nanak and to renovate the well .Last year some Sikhs were pained to see that the well and the altar of Guru Nanak could not be preserved", said Dr Ekadashi Padhi a researcher of Jajpur.
"Five hundred years ago, two great luminaries appeared on the horizon of India, one on the east and the other in the west. They were Chaitanya and Nanak. Nanak was the founder of the Sikh religion. In 1506 Nanak visited Orissa . He lived for 71 years and within his life time he is believed to have spent 25 years in travelling all over India and other countries. Tradition says that after walking a long distance, he rested on the bank of river Mahanadi at 'Kaliaboda'. Many people went to Nanak to pay their homage.
This is a sacred place of the Sikhs. There is also clear evidence in Bhadrak District that Nanak came to Orissa. In Bhadrak there is a village called 'Sangat' which means mass prayer of Sikhs and Langar means community dining. In this village Nanak stayed and held mass prayer. There is a recorded plot here called 'Nanak Diha'. Most probably Nanak stayed in this village and held his mass prayer, added Dr Padhi.