Iraq Diary - IV

<b>Guru's Gate</b><br><br>The story of Guru Nanak’s journey to Mecca and Medina is well known. What is not so well known is that he stayed in Baghdad for a period of three months before going there. <br><br> Some pirs of the country got together and constructed a gurudwara in his memory there. Today this gurudwara is caught in the cross fire of the US-Iraq war. Both India and Iraq are working to ensure the gurudwara is restored. <br><br> The structure stands in the Kurkh district of Iraq’s capital city, Baghdad. The Arabic inscription on the façade of the structure says “This building was constructed in the memory of Baba Nanak in 1969.” The building has suffered severe damage in the bombing during the Iraq war. <br><br> “Till 2003, a wall meant for Gurunanakji’s gurudwara used to stand here. But because of the bombings by the Army, nothing was left of it,” says Muwahib Shaibani, teacher of Art of Living. <br><br> Guru Nanak made the journey to Mecca and Medina in 1520. It was in the course of this journey that he had stopped over in Baghdad for 3 months. Spiritual teachers living in the vicinity of the area were so impressed by Guru Nanak’s metaphysical powers that they made a gurudwara in his memory. <br><br> The process of restoring the remnants of this structure has now begun in earnest. <br><br> “We have just come to know of this matter. I would talk to my people for the reconstruction of this building,” says Adil Abd Al Mahadi, the Iraq Vice President. <br><br> If the effort to get the gurudwara reconstructed bears fruit, it will not only allow the Sikhs all over the world to look at the Guru Granth Shahib, in physical form, but it will also help in improving relations between India and Iraq.