Joti Jot of Guru Har Krishan and Gurgaddi of Guru Tegh Bahadur · Joti Jot Guru Har Krishan, Gurgaddi Guru Tegh Bahadur

Culture of origin: Sikh · Cultural

Holiday sources: Sikhism

Guru Har Krishan died in Delhi on March 30, 1664, of smallpox, at about seven; he had fallen ill while caring for the sick in an epidemic. Asked who would succeed him, he said only "Baba Bakala", which the Sikhs took to mean that their next Guru was at the village of Bakala. Some twenty-two claimants set themselves up there, the most prominent Dhir Mal. Tradition tells that the trader Makhan Shah Lubana, who had vowed 500 gold coins to the Guru, offered two to each claimant and found the true one in Tegh Bahadur, who asked why he was breaking his promise; Makhan Shah went up on the roof and cried out that the Guru had been found. A Sangat from Delhi acknowledged Tegh Bahadur as the ninth Guru in August 1664. The SGPC gives Har Krishan's death as Chet sudi 14 and keeps both anniversaries on or about that day.