Date:30/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/30/stories/2008103055981300.htm

National

Sikhs keep alive tradition of Nishan Sahib

Staff Reporter

NANDED (MAHARASHTRA): The tradition of installing the ‘Nishan Sahib,’ or the flag pole carrying the Sikh flag that was started by the Tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, has been kept alive at the Takhat Sachkhand Shri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib Gurdwara.

The Nishan Sahib had initially served the purpose of indicating the presence of a gurdwara and, being fairly high, was visible to itinerant pilgrims from a distance. It later became a religious symbol.

Two flag poles

There are two significant Nishan Sahibs at the gurdwara. The one on the platform where the gurdwara stands is about 50 ft high and has the head of a spear on its top, and the one on lower ground in front is about 40 ft high and has a khanda on its top.

The tallest one was erected at the spot where Guru Gobind Singh held his ‘deewan’ and the shorter one came up where he used to meet his followers.

He had purchased these lands along with the one on which the gurdwara was constructed from a local landowner.

It is the site where the Guru performed ‘tapasya’ during the Satyug.

The cloth that adorns the Nishan Sahib is changed whenever a devotee makes an offering of the yellow or saffron cloth, usually made of satin material.

A sevadar or volunteer is elevated high through a winch to change the cloth or ‘chola.’