Mata Daya Kaur
Mata Daya ji is described as a lady of gentle disposition, who was charitable and religious. She gave birth to a son that was given the name Lahina (later to become Guru Angad) on March 31, 1504, at Matte di Saran near Mukstar in the district of Ferozpur. Daya Kaur's maiden name was Ramo. She was married to Ferumal, a well-to-do trader, shopkeeper who was the village purohit. The family was very pious and worshipped a female deity (some sources say it was Chandi, but Dr Gopal Singh, in his History of The Sikh People, says it was Durga). Which deity, matters little in the telling of this event.
Every year her husband Ferumal would make a pilgrimage to the ancient shrine of Jawala Mukti (Jawala Bhagwati - the Goddess of fire) in the Shivalik hills. He took his son with him, and there they would tie bells to their ankles and dance in homage to the goddess.
After their village was sacked during Babar's invasion, the family moved to the village of Khadur, which today in the district of Amritsar. After the death of his father Ferumal, Lahina continued to lead the annual pilgrimage from his village (on the bright fortnight of Savan (July-August), to pay homage to the Goddess of fire. The family had a well respected friend by the name of Mai Bhirai, who was like a sister to Ferumal. A follower of Guru Nanak, she is said to have arranged the marriage of Lahina to Bibi Khivi.
One would expect women to have played a significant role in determining the image of the Sikh religion, especially the wives of the Gurus who created the foundation of many Sikh traditions. They were instrumental in building a firm foundation that nurtured the Sikh religion and the Sikhs in such troubling times, while the Gurus primarily did the teaching, the women looked after the mundane details of every-day life.
They managed the households and the kitchens. Without them, it would have been impossible to demonstrate, in any substantial way, that the doctrines of equality, hard work and fair play were at all attainable. The primary sources of Sikh history have ignored this important aspect of the basic teaching of the ten Gurus. Yet, however little is available there is enough to substantiate that the women of Sikhism played as important a role in The organisation and establishment of tradition as any man.
Undoubtely as Mata Tripta ji had an affect on Guru Nanak Dev's mind and in a similar fashion Mata Daya Kaur raised Bhai Lahina ji; Guru Angad Dev.
|Relatives of Guru Angad Dev|