Punjab government has announced gazetted holiday on the birth anniversary of Guru Nabha Dass, a 16th century saint, taking it out from list of restricted holidays.

Who was Guru Nabha Dass?

• Guru Nabha Dass was born on April 8, 1537 at village Bhadrachalam on the bank of Godavari river in Khammam district, which falls in the present day Telangana.
• He belonged to Mahasha also known as doom or dumna community, which is one of the Schedule Caste communities.
• Since childhood, orphaned Guru Nabha Dass, whose original name was Narayan Dass, had an inclination towards spirituality.
• Two religious gurus — Agar Dass and Keel Dass — who were passing through his village took the orphan child to a temple at Ghalta Dham, which is now main pilgrimage of Nabhadassias, at Jaipur.
• People from this community are also known as Nabhadassias. They are known for making baskets and grain storage containers with bamboo.

His legacy

• Guru Nabha Dass wrote ‘Bhagatmal’ in 1585.
• It has the life history of around 200 saints. He died in 1643.

What is his connection with Punjab?

• Guru Nabha Dass used to visit village Pandori in Gurdaspur district where people of Doom community live.
• Some gurus of the community also used to live there.

What made government announce gazetted holiday now?

• Political parties can’t manage to ignore the sentiments of such a large community.
• The community had been requesting the government to declare April 8 as a gazetted holiday since long.

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