Jump to content

Dera Baba Nanak

Coordinates: 32°01′55″N 75°01′44″E / 32.032°N 75.029°E / 32.032; 75.029
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dera Baba Nanak
Town
Sri Dera Baba Nanak Sahib Gurudwara, Gurdaspur district, Punjab
Sri Dera Baba Nanak Sahib Gurudwara, Gurdaspur district, Punjab
Nickname: 
DBN
Dera Baba Nanak is located in Punjab
Dera Baba Nanak
Dera Baba Nanak
Dera Baba Nanak is located in India
Dera Baba Nanak
Dera Baba Nanak
Coordinates: 32°01′55″N 75°01′44″E / 32.032°N 75.029°E / 32.032; 75.029
Country India
StatePunjab
DistrictGurdaspur
Nearest cityGurdaspur city
Founded byGuru Nanak
Government
 • TypeMunicipal Council
Elevation
242 m (794 ft)
Population
 (2021)
 • Total
~10,000
Languages
 • OfficialPunjabi
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
Vehicle registrationPB-58

Dera Baba Nanak is a town and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district, in the state of Punjab, India. It is the sub-district headquarters of Dera Baba Nanak tehsil. It is 36 km away from Gurdaspur city, the capital of the district. In November 2019, a corridor between India and Pakistan was established at its shrine.

Demographics

[edit]

As of 2011 India census, Dera Baba Nanak city had a population of 6,394. Of which the number of males were 3,331 and the number of females were 3,063. Dera Baba Nanak has an average literacy rate of 87.42%, higher than the state average of 75.84%: male literacy is 90.36%, and female literacy is 84.27%. In Dera Baba Nanak 9.34% of the population is under 6 years of age.[1][2]

In 2011, the sex ratio of Dera Baba Nanak city was 920, compared to the state average of 895. The child sex ratio was around 843, compared to the state average of 846. The scheduled caste population comprises the 25.95% of the total population of the municipal council.[3]

The table below shows the percentage of different religious groups in Dera Baba Nanak city, according to the 2011 census.

Percentage of religious groups in Dera Baba Nanak city - 2011 census[1]
Religion Percentage (2011)
Hindu 55.51%
Sikh 41.09%
Christian 2.89%
Muslim 0.27%
Buddhist 0.03%
Others 0.02%
No religion 0.20%

The table below shows the population of different religious groups in Dera Baba Nanak city and their gender ratio, as of 2011 census.

Population by religious groups in Dera Baba Nanak city, 2011 census[4]
Religion Total Female Male Gender ratio
Hindu 3,549 1,695 1,854 914
Sikh 2,627 1,264 1,363 927
Christian 185 85 100 850
Muslim 17 10 7 1428
Buddhist 2 2 0 --
Other religions 3 2 1 2000
Not stated 41 21 20 1050
Total 6,394 3,063 3,331 919

History

[edit]

Dera Baba Nanak, one of the most sacred places of the Sikhs, is situated on the banks of river Ravi.[5] Three famous Gurudwaras at Dera Baba Nanak are Sri Darbar Sahib,[5] Sri Chola Sahib[6] and Tahli Sahib (Gurudwara of BaBa Sri Chand ji) eldest son of Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru. Guru Nanak,[5] the first Sikh Guru settled and is believed to have "mingled with the Almighty" near the village Pakhoke Mehmaran, opposite to the present town and named it Kartarpur - a town which lies over the border in Pakistan.[7] The Bedis (Khatris),[5] descendants of Guru Nanak built a new town and named it Dera Baba Nanak after their ancestor.

Photograph of a Sikh shrine at Dera Baba Nanak, from the 1930 first edition of Mahan Kosh

There are many Bedi descendants of Guru Nanak at Dera Baba Nanak, located near Kartarpur (Narowal).[8] Much of the land at Dera Baba Nanak is owned by Nanak's descendants and a robe, known as a chola sahib, with Quranic inscriptions said to have been owned by Nanak is kept here.[8] The robe is believed to have been worn by Guru Nanak during his udasi (travels) to Mecca and Medina in Arabia.[8] The robe was passed-down in four subsequent generations of descendants until it was preserved as a sacred relic.[8] In 1895, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Ahmadiyya prophet, examined the robe in an attempt to prove that Guru Nanak was a Muslim.[8]

The town has a number of Gurdwaras. Pilgrims[5] come to this town in large numbers. Dera Baba Nanak was made the headquarters of the newly created Tehsil[5] of Dera Baba Nanak.

Gurudwara Sri Darbar Sahib was built in commemoration of Guru Nanak. He came here after his first Udasi (tour) during December 1515 AD to see members of his family. His wife Mata Sulakkhani[9] and his two sons Sri Chand[10] and Lakhmi Chand had come to stay here in their maternal home at Pakho-Ke-Randhawa[11][5] near Dera Baba Nanak, where Lala Mool Raj, father–in–law of Guru Nanak, was working as a Patwari.[12]

[edit]

Notable people

[edit]

Villages

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Dera Baba Nanak Municipal Council City Population Census 2011-2024 | Punjab". www.census2011.co.in. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  3. ^ "Dera Baba Nanak Municipal Council City Population Census 2011-2024 | Punjab". www.census2011.co.in. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  4. ^ https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/11389, India - C-01: Population by religious community, Punjab - 2011, Dera Baba Nanak (M Cl)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Shri Darbar Sahib Dera Baba Nanak". derababananak.com. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017.
  6. ^ "Chola Sahib Dera Baba Nanak". derababananak.com. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017.
  7. ^ "Kartarpur Sahib Dera Baba Nanak". derababananak.com. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017.
  8. ^ a b c d e Fenech, Louis E.; McLeod, W. H. (11 June 2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 97–98. ISBN 9781442236011.
  9. ^ "Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji". derababananak.com. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017.
  10. ^ "Dera Baba Nanak". derababananak.com. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017.
  11. ^ "History of Ardas Dera Baba Nanak". derababananak.com. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017.