Gurdwara Majnu-ka-Tila

Location

Gurdwara Majnu-ka-Tila is positioned on a hillock on the right bank of river Yamuna in Delhi. It is said that in the times of Sultan Sikander Shah Lodhi, a Muslim hermit used to live a secluded life here and helped people cross the river in his boat free-of-charge. His wish to see the glimpse of God was so great that he was always lost in his own thoughts. Thus, the people nicknamed him as 'Majnu', the well-renowned Persian lover who became symbolic of intense love and passion. He attained enlightenment with the blessings of Guru Nanak. His hermitage came to be known as Majnu-ka-Tila (the hilllock of Majnu).
This hermitage had the honor of visits of other Gurus and their devout disciples and became a famous pilgrimage place for the Sikhs. The main personalities who graced the place with their divine presence were Shri Guru Hargobind Sahib ji, the sixth Guru, Shri Ram Rai, the son of the seventh Guru Har Rai, General Baghel Singh, who built the first small structure of shrine here. The maintenance of the shrine was done by the income from the Jagir endowed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh who also built a tiny, old marble Gurdwara that can still be seen today. The devotees constructed Gurudwara in its present massive form in 1950.