In the central plains of Punjab, Pakistan, roughly 75 kilometres west of Lahore, lies the city of Nankana Sahib, a place whose name is spoken with reverence by Sikhs across the world. It is here, in 1469, that Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, was born. What was once a modest farming settlement on the Delhi Sultanate frontier has become one of the holiest centres of the faith, drawing pilgrims who come to walk the ground where the first Guru spent his earliest years. The town carries his memory in its very name, and the cluster of shrines within it traces the story of a childhood that would reshape the spiritual landscape of South Asia.
A Town That Took the Guru's Name
Before it was Nankana Sahib, the settlement was known as Rai Bhoi di Talwandi, founded during the era of the Delhi Sultanate by a landowner named Rai Bhoi. According to tradition, it was his descendant Rai Bular Bhatti, a local chief who recognised the young Nanak's exceptional spirit, who renamed the town in the Guru's honour after his birth. The name Nankana Sahib joins the Guru's name to an honorific of respect, a gesture that fixed his memory permanently into the geography of the region. The renaming reflects the deep regard that even those outside the emerging Sikh community held for the child born among them.
The Birth of Guru Nanak
Guru Nanak was born to Mehta Kalu, an accountant, and Mata Tripta in this Punjabi village. From his early years he is remembered for a contemplative nature and a questioning of ritual and division. His teachings, centred on one God, honest living, and the equality of all people, would in time draw a community of followers and form the foundation of Sikhism. The events of his childhood, his schooling, his moments of reflection, and his encounters with elders, are woven into the landmarks of Nankana Sahib, so that the town reads almost like a map of his formative life.
Gurdwara Janam Asthan
The principal shrine of the city is Gurdwara Janam Asthan, also called Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, built on the precise spot identified as the place of the Guru's birth. An early structure was raised in the sixteenth century, and the present grand complex was completed under Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the early nineteenth century. Today it stands as a protected heritage monument and the spiritual heart of the town. Its white domes and broad courtyard receive a steady flow of visitors, and within its walls the daily rhythms of prayer, recitation of scripture, and the shared community kitchen continue much as they do in gurdwaras everywhere.
A Constellation of Shrines
Nankana Sahib is not a single shrine but an ensemble of historic gurdwaras, often counted as nine, each tied to a remembered episode of the Guru's early life. Among them are Gurdwara Patti Sahib, associated with his schooling, and Gurdwara Bal Leela, linked to the games and play of his boyhood. Others mark places of his reflection and his interactions with the people around him. Walking between these sites, a visitor can follow the arc of a childhood preserved in stone and tradition, a rare instance of a faith's origins remaining so closely mapped onto one town.
To honour the founder, the people of his birthplace gave the town his name, binding memory and place together for the generations that followed.
Pilgrimage and Gurpurab
Each year, and especially around Gurpurab, the anniversary of Guru Nanak's birth, large numbers of pilgrims travel to Nankana Sahib. Many come from across India and from the wider Punjabi diaspora, gathering for processions, devotional singing, and the langar that feeds all who attend without distinction. The anniversary transforms the town, filling its gurdwaras with light and song. For many Sikhs, the journey to the Guru's birthplace is a deeply meaningful act of devotion, a chance to stand where the faith began.
After Partition
When the Partition of 1947 divided British India, Nankana Sahib became part of the new state of Pakistan, while a large share of its Sikh population moved across the new border into India. The event reshaped the town's demographic makeup, yet the shrines endured. In the decades since, cross-border pilgrimage has continued, with arrangements allowing Sikh visitors to travel to the holy sites in Pakistani Punjab. The maintenance and openness of these shrines remains a matter of shared significance for the faithful on both sides of the frontier.
A Living Place of Faith
Today Nankana Sahib is both an ordinary district town and an extraordinary place of pilgrimage. Its markets and streets carry on daily life, while its gurdwaras hold a sanctity that reaches far beyond Punjab. The Guru whose name it bears taught a message of unity and humility, and the town stands as a quiet witness to those beginnings. For Sikhs everywhere, whether they live nearby or in distant lands, Nankana Sahib remains a touchstone, a reminder of where the long story of their faith first took root.