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Muktsar fair
The Muktsar fair is one of the largest Sikh fairs held in Muktsar Sahib
commonly referred to as Muktsar, the headqaurters of Muktsar Sahib district in Punjab,
on the occasion of Maghi Mela. The fair is held in the middle of
January on the Makar Sankranti day, which usually falls on the next day
after Lohri.
The festival is held in commemoration of a battle fought
in 1705-1706 by Guru Gobind Singh against the pursuing imperial forces
which overtook him here and cut his followers to pieces. The Guru himself
escaped and had the bodies of his followers disposed of with the usual
rites. He declared that they had all obtained mukti and promised the same
blessing to all his followers, who should thereafter, on the anniversary
of that day, bathe in the Holy pool which had been filled by rain from
heaven in answer to his prayers for water. On this spot,a fine tank was
afterwards dug by Maharaja Ranjit Singh and called Muktsar (the pool of
Salvation).
One of the greatest of Sikh festivals, the
celebrations last for three days. On the first day, the worshippers bathe is the sacred tank.
On the second day the people go in a procession (mohalla) to the three
holy mounds which lie to the north-west of the town, namely, Rikab Sahib,
Tibbi Sahib and Mukhwanjana Sahib. The Rikab Sahib, a mound formed out
of the handfuls of earth taken from the tank by the faithful and thrown
there, commemorates the spot where the Guru's stirrup broke. The procession
goes up the slope to the Tibbi Sahib which, crowned with a Gurudwara,
is the mound where Guru Gobind Singh stood and aimed his arrows at the
imperial forces. The devotes then proceed to the Mukhwanjana Sahib where
the Guru is said to have cleaned his teeth with a tooth-stick. Prayers
are offered here and the devotes then return. This mound has been built
in the same way as the Rikab Sahib. On their return trip people visit
the Tambu Sahib where the Guru's tent was pitched before the fight
started, the Shahid Ganj, which is the Samadhi of the forty martyrs and
the Darbar Sahib, where the Guru held his Darbar after the cremation of
the slain.
A cattle fair during the occassion, showcases good
breed horses, for which Sri Muktsar Sahib is famous throughout Punjab.
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