The Kali Bein and its significance for Sikhs

The Kali Bein and its significance for Sikhs

Subject :Geography

Section: Mapping

Context: Punjab Chief Minister admitted to Delhi’s Apollo Hospital, days after he had drunk a glass of water directly from the Kali Bein, a holy rivulet in Sultanpur Lodhi

What is the Kali Bein?

• The 165 km rivulet starts from Hoshiarpur, runs across four districts and meets the confluence of the rivers Beas and Sutlej in Kapurthala.
• Waste water from around the villages as well as industrial waste used to flow into the rivulet via a drain, turning its water black, hence the name Kali Bein (black rivulet).

Significance of Kali Bein to Sikhs:

• It is great significance to Sikh religion and history, because the first Guru, Nanak Dev, is said to have got enlightenment here.
• When Guru Nanak Dev was staying at Sultanpur Lodhi with his sister BebeNanki, he would bathe in the Kali Bein.
• He is said to have disappeared into the waters one day, before emerging on the third day. The first thing he recited was the ‘Mool Mantra’ of the Sikh religion.