AMRITSAR-CHHATTARPUR 385
this sacred shrine. During the first visit Ram das remained
in the temple only for a short time. He came again with
Gopalrao at three in the morning and stayed till daybreak
on the gallery upstairs. The music that wafted up to him
from the hall was most charming. In front of the temple
beyond the tank is the seat of one of the ten famous gurus
of the Sikhs.
The Sikhs are proud of recounting the fierce battles their
ancestors waged to preserve the temple from desecration at
the hands of Mahammadan invaders. Much precious Sikh
blood had freely flowed into the tank and on its borders in
guarding the sanctuary. The Sikhs, even to the present
day, are a martial race endowed with indomitable grit and
valour. The warlike spirit was infused into them by one
of their greatest gurus, Guru Govind, who was himself an
intrepid soldier and, at the same time, their religious head.
He trained his followers and formed an army for protecting
their religious faith and shrines from the attacks of foreign
aggressors, especially the Mahammadans. The distinctive
marks of a Sikh are the beard and the uncut hair which is
tied up in a, knot at the crown of the head which is invari-
ably covered with a bulky pheta or turban. They have an
iron wire bangle on one of their wrists and a kirpani or
short dagger hanging by their side. They are quiet and
kind in disposition. While they look upon Guru Nanak
with the highest veneration, they recognize also the great-
ness of saints and incarnations of other religions.
Guru Nanak, as his life shows, was a wonderful per-
sonality. He is said to have performed many miracles
during his time. The oft-quoted wonder that he wrought
was the turning round Mecca. It is Stated that when he
was in Mecca in his itinerant life he happened to lie down
with his legs turned towards the sacred shrine of the
Muslims at Mecca. The Muslims holding that Guru Nanak
was treating their holy temple with disrespect moved his
legs round to a different posture and Mecca itself whirled
4fl