Tilla Jogian

Hindu Mandir at Tilla Jogian

Tilla Jogian (Urdu: ٹلہ جوگیاں‎) is the highest peak in the Eastern Salt Range in Punjab, Pakistan. At 975 meters (3200 ft) above sea level, it is about 25 km to the west of Jhelum city and 10 km west of the model village of Khukha. The view from the top of Tilla is highly rewarding. Rohtas, Pakistan Fort is located to the east of Tilla Jogian at a distance of about 7 km from Dina, a rapidly expanding town on the Grand Trunk Road.

Tilla Jogian

Location

Tilla Jogian can be seen from districts of Mandi Bahauddin, Gujrat, Jhelum and Chakwal. It is situated on a commanding place near the Jhelum River. From its height of 3200 feet, you can see a panorama unparalleled in Pakistan.

Historical importance

For thousand of years it was a place of sun worship for the Hindus because the sun can be seen here earlier and sets here later due to its height. It became a place of worship for Hindus. Tilla Jogian in Punjabi means the Hill of Saints. This is where the Kanphata Jogis, who pierced their earlobes and were an order founded by Guru Gorakhnath have left behind a monastery.[1]

Mention in literature

Tilla Jogian also finds mention in the epic love poem Heer Ranjha of Waris Shah. Ranjha, the story's protagonist, who when spending his time on the rebound, sublimating his love and passion in the spiritual world, came here for consolation and got his ears ringed here as was the tradition of Guru Goraknath's followers.[2]


Tilla Jogian comprises a complex of Hindu mandirs housing at least three baths and a network of waterworks with at least two minor dams. There are number of ways to reach at the top: One from Rohtas Fort side and the other from Sanghoi, the Jhelum River side.


The Mughal Emperor Jahangir visited this place many times and mentions this in his memoirs.


For the Sikh Punjabis there is also another significance to Tilla Jogian as Guru Nanak Dev ji, the founder of Sikhism is said to have spent 40 days in quiet seclusion at Tilla Jogian. The Sikhs during the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh made a stone pond here in his memory. The British made a road and a pond here for water.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited Tilla Jogian and did some protective work for the safety of its pristine beauty.

Tilla Jogain at sunset, viewed from a village across the Jehlum river, in District Gujrat, Tehsil Sarai Alamgir.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gorakhnāth and the Kānphaṭa Yogīs, George Weston Briggs, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1938, ISBN 9788120805644, ... The Kanphatas possess many monasteries ... but that at Tilla, in the Panjab, is generally considered to be the chief seat of the Gorkhnathis ...
  2. ↑ The social space of language: vernacular culture in British colonial Punjab, Farina Mir, University of California Press, 2010, ISBN 9780520262690, ... A fourth locale, Tilla Jogian, is the location of Gorakhnath's dera (monastery) and the site of Ranjha's transformation into a yogi ...

Coordinates: 33°23′59″N 73°17′59″E / 33.39972°N 73.29972°E