Guru Nanak's life

The journey in one line

4 stops in Pakistan and India. Complete means all 4 visited.

Guru Nanak was born in 1469 at Rai Bhoi di Talwandi, now Nankana Sahib. He worked for years at Sultanpur Lodhi. He travelled for two decades. He spent his last eighteen years farming at Kartarpur on the Ravi and died there in 1539. Partition in 1947 put Nankana Sahib and Kartarpur in Pakistan and left Sultanpur Lodhi and Dera Baba Nanak in India. For seventy years the Kartarpur gurdwara was visible from the Indian bank through binoculars and out of reach. In 2019 a corridor opened that lets Indian pilgrims cross for the day without a visa.

This is a short route about one life, and it is also a route about a border. Nankana Sahib and Panja Sahib are visited by Indian jathas under a 1974 protocol that allocates a limited number of visas at fixed times of year. That allocation is a political matter and it moves. The app should never treat an unreachable place as a failure. Hiding a member from a plan is the right response, and it does not rewrite what the route is.

Sultanpur Lodhi and Dera Baba Nanak are an easy day from Amritsar or Jalandhar. Kartarpur by corridor is same day, from the Dera Baba Nanak terminal, by online registration with a passport and a service fee. Registration opens in advance and slots are capped. Nankana Sahib needs a Pakistan visa, or a place on a jatha around Guru Nanak's birth anniversary in November, Baisakhi in April or the martyrdom of Guru Arjan in June.

Where it goes

The stops, in order

What a visit means here. A visit means being in the gurdwara precinct. Two members are in Pakistan and need a visa or the Kartarpur corridor, so this route can be left incomplete without that meaning anything about you.

1. 1

   Gurdwara Janam Asthan

   ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਜਨਮ ਅਸਥਾਨ

   Nankana Sahib, Pakistan

   

   Guru Nanak was born here in 1469, in the village then called Rai Bhoi di Talwandi. The gurdwara marks the house and is the largest of several in the town connected with his childhood. It is held by the Evacuee Trust Property Board on the Pakistani side of the 1947 line.

   What counts as a visit

   The gurdwara precinct at Nankana Sahib.

   Access

   Indian pilgrims travel on jatha visas issued under the 1974 protocol; other visitors need a Pakistan visa. Heads covered and footwear left outside. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Permit required

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

2. 2

   Gurdwara Sri Ber Sahib

   ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਬੇਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ

   Sultanpur Lodhi, India

   

   Guru Nanak lived at Sultanpur Lodhi for about fourteen years and worked in the town's granary. The gurdwara stands by the Kali Bein rivulet where he is said to have disappeared for three days and returned saying there is no Hindu and no Muslim. A ber tree he planted still stands in the courtyard.

   What counts as a visit

   The gurdwara precinct and the Kali Bein bank beside it.

   Access

   Heads covered and footwear left outside. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

3. 3

   Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur

   ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਦਰਬਾਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਕਰਤਾਰਪੁਰ

   Narowal, Pakistan

   

   Guru Nanak settled at Kartarpur in 1522, farmed there and taught there for his last eighteen years, and died there in 1539. The gurdwara marks the place. Since 2019 a corridor from Dera Baba Nanak has let Indian pilgrims cross for the day without a visa.

   What counts as a visit

   The gurdwara precinct at Kartarpur, reached through the corridor or on a Pakistan visa.

   Access

   Corridor travel is same day, by online registration with a passport, and carries a service fee. Heads covered and footwear left outside. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Permit required

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

4. 4

   Dera Baba Nanak

   ਡੇਰਾ ਬਾਬਾ ਨਾਨਕ

   Gurdaspur district, India

   

   Dera Baba Nanak grew up around the place where Guru Nanak's descendants settled after his death, on the Indian bank of the Ravi. Gurdwara Sri Darbar Sahib here keeps a cloak said to have been given to the Guru. The Kartarpur corridor terminal starts from the town and the gurdwara across the river is visible from the viewing point.

   What counts as a visit

   The town's gurdwara precincts and the corridor viewing point.

   Access

   The corridor terminal has its own registration and hours. Heads covered and footwear left outside the gurdwaras. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

Respect and access

Heads covered, footwear left at the counter, feet washed on the way in. No tobacco or alcohol. The corridor crossing has border formalities on both sides and photography is restricted at the terminals. Sikh visitors on a jatha are travelling under conditions that can change at short notice. If you are travelling for interest rather than practice, keep out of the queue.

Permit required

Entry needs a permit, a booking or a ticket arranged in advance.

Opening times, prices, permits and eligibility change. Nothing on this page is a statement about today. Follow the Check access link on a place before you plan around it.

Sources

• etpb.gov.pkhttps://etpb.gov.pk/shrines/gurdwaras/functional/ · checked September 17, 2026
• etpb.gov.pkhttps://etpb.gov.pk/gurdwara-darbar-sahib-kartarpur/ · checked September 17, 2026
• incredibleindia.gov.inhttps://www.incredibleindia.gov.in/en/punjab/kapurthala/gurudwara-ber-sahib · checked September 17, 2026
• incredibleindia.gov.inhttps://www.incredibleindia.gov.in/en/punjab/gurdaspur/dera-baba-nanak · checked September 17, 2026

TravelDay selected and grouped these places. Naming a custodian, a government agency or UNESCO as a source is not a claim that any of them endorsed this journey.