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Kartarpur (Urdu: کرتارپور; meaning: “The City of God” in Punjabi) was established by Guru Nanak in 1522[1], and is the location of Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib.
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Kartarpur is the symbol of international harmony where all the three prominent religions of the region converge. Situated on Indo-Pak border on Pakistani side, Kartarpur is the place where Baba Guru Nanak passed away in 1539 AD. The interesting part of the story which makes it a universal place is that when Nanak abandoned his mortal body the question arose whether it should be buried the Islamic way or burned according to Hindu rites. Further there are legends and legends but the harsh reality of the present day is that we have three intact mausoleums of Guru Nanak, then erected. A Smadh and a Grave each are in Pakistan territory while the third one is in India. Then there is river Raavi making a garland of serene waters around Kartarpur.
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Kartarpur is situated in the Pakistan about 2Km. from Indo-Pak border on the right bank of river Ravi. The shrine building stands out singly as there is no habitation around. There used to be a railway connection to it and the station is named Darbar Sahib Kartarpur’ on the Lahore-Chak Amru line. It lies in the tehsil Shakkar Garh district Narowal of Punjab and is 117Km from Lahore.
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Opposite nearest town on the Indian side is Dera Baba Nanak [1Km. from Border] in the district of Gurdaspur. Dera is duly connected by road and rail and is about 50 km from Amritsar, 39 Km from Gurdaspur and 35 Km from Batala. Another historic town Kalanaur is at a distance of about 10 Km only.
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Adjoining Dera Baba Nanak is the historic village Pakhoke where our lord Guru Nanak used to visit his devotee Ajita Randhawa. Governor of the area Duni Chand Karoria met Guru Nanak at Pakhoke and donated 100 Acre land to Guru Sahib. This land is on the right bank of river Ravi. On the Guru’s acceptance of land Guru decided to settle there and building or hut was constructed. Kartarpur thus became the first Sikh centre. There is a reference in the historical books that Guru formally laid the foundation of Kartarpur on Magh 13, 1572 Bikrmi year [1515AD]. Apart from Duni Chand, Guru’s disciple Doda was also helpful. Now there is a village named Doda near Kartarpur.
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It was here that Guru Nanak appointed Lehna his spiritual successor after severe tests and made him the second Guru of Sikhs on July 14, 1539 AD. Lehna was called Angad the one born from Guru’s own limb. Guru also handed over a pothi the book of hymns to Angad.
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Kartarpur is the most important shrine for the Sikhs not only since Nanak passed away here but for the fact it was here Baba Nanak himself practically demonstrated the new concepts of his philosophy practical aspect of his philosophy. It was here 550 years ago that he challenged the Hindu concept that sanyas or renunciation is necessary to attain God. At Kartarpur the Guru shed whatever his hermitage dress and wore Punjabi farmer’s clothes and started cultivation. Here he started living a house holder’s life and shifted his family – father, mother, wife and sons here at Kartarpur from Talwandi ( Nankana sahib where he was born). It was here he challenged the caste system in Hindu society and ran a community kitchen the Langar and asked the so called high and low caste people to dine together.
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Baba Nanak lived 70 years but most of the time he was on the move: from Iran/Iraq to Myanmar (Burma) from high lands of Tibet to Sri Lanka etc. But Kartarpur is the place where he stayed: 18 long years. It is said he formally launched his philosophy by founding the place of Kartarpur i.e the creator’s abode. He did farming here. Sikhs thus treat Kartarpur as the birth place of Sikhism.