HISTORICAL FACTS ON GURU NANAK IN CEYLON

This is reproduced from the " SRI GURU NANAK DEV JI " available in ALL ABOUT SIKHS .YOUR GATEWAY TO SIKHISM at http://allaboutsikhs.com/gurus/gurunanak5.htm

GURU TO SANGLADEEP (CEYLON):
From Puri the Guru went to Gantur of present Andhra Pradesh district, Kanchipuram, Tiruvannamalai and Tiruchchirupalli. All these places have Gurdwaras to mark the visit of the Guru. From Tiruchchirupalli he sailed down to Kaveri river and reached Nagapatnam, a very old port of south India. From there he proceeded to Sangladeep ( should be SINGHALADEEPA) (Ceylon) and Betticola( Currently BATTICALOA) was the first place of his stay in the island. He went to Matiakalam (now known as Matalai) ( is this Matale or any other place in a tamil Hindu area??) which was the capital of Sangladeep under Raja Shiv Nabh( What should be the Singhala name of this king).

Bhai Mansukh, a trader from Punjab and a disciple of the Guru, had been to Sangladeep in connection with his business long before the Guru's visit to the island. By reason of his trade, Bhai Mansukh had access to Raja Shiv Nabh and thus he had told the Raja all about Guru Nanak. The Raja inquired how he could meet the Guru. Mansukh told him,"Rise early in the morning and recite Moolmantar. If you earnestly pray, the Guru will respond to your prayers."

Every morning Raja Shiv Nabh meditated and prayed for the holy sight (darshan) of the Guru. Time passed on but the Guru did not appear. Many persons came and claimed to be the Guru but all were found to be the fake claimants. One day news was brought to the Raja that a holy man, with a rare glory beaming on his face (spiritual aura), had arrived in the old neglected garden, and as soon as he set his foot in the garden, the withered trees sprouted into green foliage.

Due to the previous fake claimants, the Raja devised a plan to test the visitors before he could bow his head to any one of them. The Raja, therefore, sent beautiful girls to seduce the new- comer with their beauty and charm. The report was sent to the Raja that the girls not only failed to seduce the visitor, but they themselves had been transformed under his spell. Hearing this, the Raja hurriedly came to see the holy Master. Spontaneously he fell at the feet of the Guru. The Guru placed his hand on his head and blessed him. Who could describe the ecstatic joy that had dawned upon Raja.

The whole city rushed to the garden to have holy sight of the Master. A dharamsala, a religious common place, was built where the Guru held daily religious congregations and preached his divine doctrine. People were enlightened with God's Name and they became Guru's followers.

After staying there for some time the Guru started in the southerly direction and reached Katargama. Then he reached Sita Eliya, ( it is beleived that there should have been a Gurudwara) a place where Sita spent her period of captivity. At the time of Guru Nanak's visit, this place was in the Kotte kingdom of Raja Dharma Prakarma. The inscription discovered by Dr. KarunaRatna and Parana Vitana in the famous museum of Anurodh Pura ( ANURADHAPURA), furnishes a brief account of the encounter of Jnanakacharya (Nanak) with the Buddhist Bhikshu, Dharma Kirt-sthavira( DhramaKirthi Sthavira) . This inscription also informs that the Raja Dharma Prkramabahu had promised to embrace Guru Nanak's creed if he won in the debate. Guru Nanak won. But before he could embrace the Guru's creed, the Brahmans very cleverly arranged another public debate, this time between the Guru and Dharma Dvajapandita and maneuvered the result in favor of the latter. In this way they did not let the ruler fall under the influence of the Guru

To read accademic analysis on Guru Dev Ji's visit, please readhttp://www.sikhspectrum.com/082004/ceylon_guru_nanak.htm

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