Guru Gobind’s ‘kavi darbar’ gets a stone house

Pankaj Sharma

Nahan, February 17

The historic ‘kavi darbar’ at Paonta Sahib has been set in stone with the construction of a special Kavi Darbar building on the gurdwara premises. For the construction work of the building, the gurdwara committee enlisted the help of skilled artisans from Chandigarh and Rajasthan. Special stones had been procured for the Kavi Darbar from Dholpur.

According to historians, Guru Gobind Singh, when at Paonta Sahib, used to host a ‘kavi darbar’ at the gurdwara. Since then, the event has been organised here every year, with 52 poets presenting their poems at the event.

Gurdwara manager Jagir Singh said, “A special kind of stone was acquired from Dholpur, Rajasthan, for the construction of the Kavi Darbar. Fiftytwo types of flowers have been planted at the gurdwara.”

Poets from across the country are set to come for the conference that will take place here on the occasion of Holi for the 323rd edition of the ‘kavi darbar’.

Back in 1683, when Guru Gobind Singh had laid the foundation of the gurdwara, he had started the ‘darbar’ here with 52 poets.

“Since then, 52 poets have presented their works here every year. ‘Kavi darbars’ are organised on full moon nights, and poets from far and wide come to participate in them. So far, 322 ‘kavi darbar’ events have been organised at this historical gurdwara,” Jagir Singh said.

Worth crores of rupees, the building has been constructed using only donations made by ‘kar sevaks’.

It is widely believed that Paonta Sahib is the only city that was named by Guru Gobind Singh himself.

He is said to have stayed in Paonta Sahib for four and a half years, during which he composed many literary works. It was here that he got writers to retell ancient literature containing great wisdom in simple language.

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