prayas
June 7th, 2005, 12:58 PM
Harbhajan Singh was a sipahi of the Sikh regiment. The guide-and-driver had this to say: “The Bihar Regiment was posted here first but the Biharis couldn’t take the cold and so the Punjabis came.” Whatever the military history and general feelings towards plains people, the weather does take a toll on the men manning this frontier – their faces are darkened by the ultraviolet rays at this rarified altitude and they all look like they’ve walked out from duty at a brick kiln. At the Baba Mandir, a Sikh soldier who hands out sweetened prasad to the tourists-turned-devotees is not willing to answer many questions about the Baba. It is possible he does not know, but more likely he is trying to conserve energy at these oxygen-depleted heights.
Harbhajan Singh was the first casualty of the regiment after it was raised in 1966, soon after the disastrous war with the Red Army. He was not a battle casualty; he was reported missing after he had gone escorting a mule train to a remote outpost. He had slipped off a treacherous slope and since the loss of a soldier with a weapon is a serious matter, a manhunt was launched. It took the army three days to find Harbhajan’s body, which was later cremated with full honours. The story has it that he himself led searchers to the site. It was after this that a legend began to take shape around the sipahi-saint’s life and afterlife, and how he became Baba Harbhajan Singh, protector of the border and soldiers, a saint who grants boons and an angel of peace.
The other soldiers in the regiment reported that the Baba had been appearing in their dreams and imploring that a shrine be built to his memory. The regiment obliged and a shrine was raised at Tuk-La where the company was posted. Soon other soldiers were reporting visions and there were more tales of Harbhajan Singh’s spirit doing the rounds. Today, the legend is firmly established. Soldiers posted to Nathu La and Jelep La believe that he guards the border and will give them a three-day warning if hostilities break out or anything untoward happens. Some officers here say the Chinese too have the early warning assurance – the Baba has also promised the Chinese a three-day warning before trouble breaks out. During flag meetings with their Indian counterparts, the Chinese are said to set aside a chair for the saint. This is a bit like the Sufi shrine in the Khemkaran sector of Punjab with its Hindu priest, worshipped by Indians and Pakistanis alike. The Pakistanis pray from 200 metres away on their side of the border.
Every year on 14 September, an Army jeep pulls up at the shrine and departs with the Baba’s personal effects. This is the Baba (or his spirit) going on annual leave, to visit Kuka, his native village in Kapurthala district in Punjab. Regular railway reservations are made for him and an orderly accompanies the luggage to Kuka where the “spirit” of the Baba and his personal effects are handed over to the regiment posted there. A small sum is sent every month to Harbhajan Singh’s mother in her village.
The approach to the shrine does not give you an idea of what to expect. It looks like a Hindu shrine with saffron flags bearing om kar, fluttering by the dozen. There was a time, according to the driver, when the place was a wood and tin shack, and when a few people made the pilgrimage out of sheer faith – it was mostly an army affair. Now, it is part of a tourist package. The Sikh aspect to the shrine is the langar that is held each Friday. Otherwise, there are pictures of Hindu gods alongside a huge framed portrait of the Baba, sardar Harbhajan Singh, cans of water that the faithful bring to be blessed and to take back, and flowered candy doled out by the barefoot Sikh soldier who prefers to smile but not to speak. The faithful prostrate, ring the several bells as they walk in, and leave offerings of money and incense.
Curiously, there are other Sikh shrines in these remote mountains, but they are mired in controversy. These include the shrine of Guru Dongmar (at over 18,000 feet) in Sikkim and the Menchukha Gurudwara in Arunachal Pradesh. The reason the Baba Mandir of Nathu La and the myth of the saint-sentinel survive is probably because it is only incidentally a Sikh shrine – it actually valourises the military. That is how it has been packaged, mainstreamed and sold. It is important to tourism in these parts and clearly the army, tourist operators and businesses all the way to Nathu La and back benefit. In fact, the shrine was moved from its original consecrated location to where it is now situated so that more people could visit. And as happens with such places, it now enjoys ample funds, some of which are used to help the local population and children adopted by the 164 Mountain Brigade, so said the driver.
Harbhajan Singh was not the first Sikh to come to these parts and make history or legend. All these places have a Sikh history older than the arrival of the Sikh Regiment and the mountain brigades on the border. Guru Nanak visited the area on his eastern travels in 1516. After his visit to Kailash Mansarovar, Guru Nanak is said to have returned to the plains via the Kali Gandaki river into Nepal. There is an ancient Gurudwara in Kathmandu that commemorates this visit. After visiting several other religious places in Nepal, he made his way to Tibet. From Tibet he entered Sikkim, where he is reported to have engaged in fruitful discussions with Buddhist leaders, helped some high altitude herders with water for their animals (which is why lake Guru Dongmar never freezes, 18,000 feet above sea level, it is said) and solved the problem of altitude affecting their virility. Then he went to Bhutan, before making it all the way to Arunachal Pradesh.
A month or so after this visit, the government of Sikkim announced that several places – including Tsomgo and Yumthang – would be closed to visitors out of respect for the sentiments of the Bhutia community. One wonders if this will be enforced and what then will happen to the tourist destination of Tsomgo and its annual fancy dress ball and yak rides, and more importantly, to Baba Mandir and the myth of Baba Harbhajan Singh.
Harbhajan Singh was the first casualty of the regiment after it was raised in 1966, soon after the disastrous war with the Red Army. He was not a battle casualty; he was reported missing after he had gone escorting a mule train to a remote outpost. He had slipped off a treacherous slope and since the loss of a soldier with a weapon is a serious matter, a manhunt was launched. It took the army three days to find Harbhajan’s body, which was later cremated with full honours. The story has it that he himself led searchers to the site. It was after this that a legend began to take shape around the sipahi-saint’s life and afterlife, and how he became Baba Harbhajan Singh, protector of the border and soldiers, a saint who grants boons and an angel of peace.
The other soldiers in the regiment reported that the Baba had been appearing in their dreams and imploring that a shrine be built to his memory. The regiment obliged and a shrine was raised at Tuk-La where the company was posted. Soon other soldiers were reporting visions and there were more tales of Harbhajan Singh’s spirit doing the rounds. Today, the legend is firmly established. Soldiers posted to Nathu La and Jelep La believe that he guards the border and will give them a three-day warning if hostilities break out or anything untoward happens. Some officers here say the Chinese too have the early warning assurance – the Baba has also promised the Chinese a three-day warning before trouble breaks out. During flag meetings with their Indian counterparts, the Chinese are said to set aside a chair for the saint. This is a bit like the Sufi shrine in the Khemkaran sector of Punjab with its Hindu priest, worshipped by Indians and Pakistanis alike. The Pakistanis pray from 200 metres away on their side of the border.
Every year on 14 September, an Army jeep pulls up at the shrine and departs with the Baba’s personal effects. This is the Baba (or his spirit) going on annual leave, to visit Kuka, his native village in Kapurthala district in Punjab. Regular railway reservations are made for him and an orderly accompanies the luggage to Kuka where the “spirit” of the Baba and his personal effects are handed over to the regiment posted there. A small sum is sent every month to Harbhajan Singh’s mother in her village.
The approach to the shrine does not give you an idea of what to expect. It looks like a Hindu shrine with saffron flags bearing om kar, fluttering by the dozen. There was a time, according to the driver, when the place was a wood and tin shack, and when a few people made the pilgrimage out of sheer faith – it was mostly an army affair. Now, it is part of a tourist package. The Sikh aspect to the shrine is the langar that is held each Friday. Otherwise, there are pictures of Hindu gods alongside a huge framed portrait of the Baba, sardar Harbhajan Singh, cans of water that the faithful bring to be blessed and to take back, and flowered candy doled out by the barefoot Sikh soldier who prefers to smile but not to speak. The faithful prostrate, ring the several bells as they walk in, and leave offerings of money and incense.
Curiously, there are other Sikh shrines in these remote mountains, but they are mired in controversy. These include the shrine of Guru Dongmar (at over 18,000 feet) in Sikkim and the Menchukha Gurudwara in Arunachal Pradesh. The reason the Baba Mandir of Nathu La and the myth of the saint-sentinel survive is probably because it is only incidentally a Sikh shrine – it actually valourises the military. That is how it has been packaged, mainstreamed and sold. It is important to tourism in these parts and clearly the army, tourist operators and businesses all the way to Nathu La and back benefit. In fact, the shrine was moved from its original consecrated location to where it is now situated so that more people could visit. And as happens with such places, it now enjoys ample funds, some of which are used to help the local population and children adopted by the 164 Mountain Brigade, so said the driver.
Harbhajan Singh was not the first Sikh to come to these parts and make history or legend. All these places have a Sikh history older than the arrival of the Sikh Regiment and the mountain brigades on the border. Guru Nanak visited the area on his eastern travels in 1516. After his visit to Kailash Mansarovar, Guru Nanak is said to have returned to the plains via the Kali Gandaki river into Nepal. There is an ancient Gurudwara in Kathmandu that commemorates this visit. After visiting several other religious places in Nepal, he made his way to Tibet. From Tibet he entered Sikkim, where he is reported to have engaged in fruitful discussions with Buddhist leaders, helped some high altitude herders with water for their animals (which is why lake Guru Dongmar never freezes, 18,000 feet above sea level, it is said) and solved the problem of altitude affecting their virility. Then he went to Bhutan, before making it all the way to Arunachal Pradesh.
A month or so after this visit, the government of Sikkim announced that several places – including Tsomgo and Yumthang – would be closed to visitors out of respect for the sentiments of the Bhutia community. One wonders if this will be enforced and what then will happen to the tourist destination of Tsomgo and its annual fancy dress ball and yak rides, and more importantly, to Baba Mandir and the myth of Baba Harbhajan Singh.