‘Babe Da Viaah’ at Batala remains a major attraction for devotees, tourists since 1917

Babe Da Viaah (wedding anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev) at Batala has been a major occasion of festivity for people in Amritsar since 1917, when locals celebrated the marriage of the first Guru for the first time. A number of devotees from Amritsar make a beeline to attend the wedding of Guru Nanak at Batala city. Guru Nanak married Bibi Sulakhni, daughter of Batala resident Mool Chand in 1488. Marriage rituals were performed at the haveli of Jameet Rai, a local landlord. As per the tradition of Punjabi weddings, sisters of Bibi Sulakhni put the ‘manji’ of Guru Nanak near a mud wall as it was about to collapse. An elderly woman asked the Guru to stay away from the wall. Guru Nanak said, “The wall would exist for centuries.” Gurdwara Kandh Sahib was constructed at the same place and the wall is protected in a glass chamber.

Advertisement

The tradition of celebrating the wedding (Babe da Viaah) is more than 100 years old. A wedding procession (Baarat) that started from Sultanpur Lodhi in the form of Nagar Kirtan will reach tomorrow but devotees from all over start reaching a day before at the historic town of Batala. The locals offer traditional sweets in langar and treat devotees as guests in the wedding. The wedding anniversary celebrations started in 1917 with the initiative of Mahant Kesra Singh. The Sangat visited in the form of Barat by a train from Amritsar to celebrate. The Janjh (wedding procession) was warmly welcomed by Mahant Kesra Singh and the residents of Batala city. It became a tradition and the Nagar Kirtan coming from Amritsar started coming by road instead of rail and it was named as ‘Shabad Chowki’. This ‘Shabad Chowki’ reaches the city of Batala every year on the occasion of marriage and the devotees give it a warm welcome and celebrate the joys of marriage. Inderjit Singh Harpura, a heritage activist, said, “A book of Dr Kulwinder Singh Khokhar ‘Guru Nanak Nivajia Batala’ mentioned eyewitness accounts of the first Barat in 1917. Now, people from all over attend the wedding anniversary at Batala. In 2000, some Batala residents started bringing Barat-style Nagar Kirtan from Sultanpur Lodhi to Batala. This Nagar Kirtan reaches Batala city in the evening a day before the wedding and stays at Gurudwara Sri Sat Kartariya. Every year, the enthusiasm of the devotees towards ‘Baba’s wedding’ in Batala city is increasing and at present it has also emerged as the biggest festival in the city.”

Kulwinder Singh Bajwa, former head, Department of History at Punjabi University, who hails from Batala said, “Most of the Janam Sakhi accounts read that Guru Nanak get married when he was in Talwandi Rai Bhoe (Nankana Sahib, Pakistan). Guru Nanak’s sister Nanaki married at Sultanpur Lodhi. Janam Sakhi of Bala mentioned that the Barat arrived from Sultanpur Lodhi but historians differ.”