GURUDWARA SHRI BAOLI SAHIB
GURUDWARA SHRI BAOLI SAHIB is situated in the Goindwal Sahib in Taran Taaran Distt. This is the first sikh pilgrimage which was prepared under the supervision of SHRI GURU AMAR DAS JI in year 1616 AD. GURU SAHIB then blessed this holy place and decreed that whosoever does 84 paaths of JAPJI SAHIB with a pure heart and baths in the BAOLI SAHIB shall be freed from the cycle of birth and death. SHRI GURU RAM DAS JI himself performed Seva of GURDWARA BAOLI SAHIB.
He also decided to build a baoli or stepped well. He welcomed men and women of all castes and creeds to take water from the baoli so that age-old barriers of caste and creed could be destroyed. The baoli at Goindwal, completed in 1559, lies in the eastern part of the large black and-white chequered courtyard.
The baoli is entered through a wide, pointed archway and the structure is surmounted by a large fluted dome. There are projected eaves on all sides, while the front face also has a row of small turrets. The cornice under the dome is multi-coloured with floral designs. Murals of the Gurus and various Sikh generals decorate the archway.
The baoli’s 84 steps that lead down to the water’s edge, is an extension of the popular Sikh belief that the body undergoes 84,00,000 incarnations as sundry animals and birds before being born as a human. According to popular belief, the pilgrim who bathes in the waters of Baoli Sahib and then recites the Japji on each of the 84 steps is said to attain spiritual liberation from these 84,00,000 karmic life cycles.
