Gurdwara Sri Guru Gobind Singh Sahib Ayodhya

Location - (approximate location) Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India

Associated with - Sri Guru Nanak Sahib Ji, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji

Sikh Artifacts - unknown

Sarovar - unknown

Sarai - unknown

There are three Sikh Gurdwaras here, all in a cluster, near Brahm Kund on the bank of Saryu. Sri Guru Nanak Sahib Ji, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji and Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji (as a child) visited Ayodhya at different times.

Guru Nanak, according to Bhai Man Singh's Pothi Janam Sakhi, said to have been composed in 1787 Anno Vikrami/ 1730 AD, visited Ayodhya shortly before Babur destroyed its hindu temples worshipping stone gods.

The memorial dedicated to Guru Nanak is only a Nishan Sahib fixed on a platform constructed in 1972 marking the site of Guru Nanak's visit.

Guru Tegh Bahadur visited Ayodhya in 1670 while on his way back to the Punjab from the eastern parts. It is said that after offering obeisance at the then existing Gurdwara of Guru Nanak he sat nearby in meditation for 48 hours continuously. Before he left, the udasi serving the Gurdwara made a request for a keepsake, and the Guru left his wooden sandals with him. The pair is still kept in Gurdwara Sri Guru Gobind Singh Sahib Ayodhya.

The memorial to Guru Tegh Bahadur's visit, too, was only at platform until 1975, when Sikh troops of Faizabad Cantonment built a room over it. The Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is ushered in only on the occasion of the chain of 51 Akhand Paths held here commencing from Assu sudf 1 and concluding on Maghar sudf 5 to honour the martyrdom anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur.

Guru Gobind Singh passed through Ayodhya when, as a child, he was travelling from Patna to Anandpur.

The Gurdwara dedicated to Guru Gobind Singh was also only a Thara Sahib to begin with, and all the three Gurdwaras were looked after by udasi's until the arrival here of a Kashmiri Sikh, Gulab Singh about the middle of the nineteenth century. He occupied the Gurdwaras and later constructed Gurdwara Sri Guru Gobind Singh Sahib Ayodhya in 1899 on the site of the platform dedicated to child Gobind Das. It commands a panoramic view of a landscape sprawling beyond the lazily flowing Saryu River.

The central domed room, octagonal in shape and with a marble floor, is called Singhasan Sthan (Throne Room) Guru Gobind Singh Ji. It encloses the former platform on which are placed the sacred relics - ie. a pair of sandals believed to be once worn by Guru Tegh Bahadur, a steel arrow, a dagger and a chakar (steel quoit with sharp outer edge). There is also a hand-written copy of the Holy Scripture dated 1838 Bikrami (1781 AD).

There are few Sikhs in Ayodhya, but Sikh soldiers from Faizabad visit usually on Sundays and other gurpurbs.

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