What Pothi Mala Is

Pothi Mala is a two-story ancestral haveli in Guruharsahai, Punjab — a village in the Ferozepur district, a few kilometers from the Pakistan border. Its name is sacred in itself: Pothi, meaning holy scripture, Mala, meaning a rosary of prayer beads.

Built nearly three hundred years ago by Jivan Mal, seventh-generation forefather of the Sodhi lineage, the haveli was conceived as more than a home. It was a spiritual citadel — its walls adorned with over five hundred murals reflecting the spirit of Hindu-Sikh coexistence, and housing the sacred relics entrusted to the Sodhi family across seventeen generations: the Pothi Sahib, the Padam Sahib, the Saligram Sahib, the Topi, and the Mala.

The Sodhi lineage traces directly to Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh Guru and founder of Amritsar — and through him to Bibi Bhani, whose prayer to her father changed the nature of Sikh sacred succession itself. Pothi Mala is the physical home of that inheritance.

what pothi mala contains

THE MURALS

Over five hundred frescoes cover the walls and ceilings of Pothi Mala's main building — scenes from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Bhagavad Gita, the life of Lord Krishna, and images of the Sikh Gurus, painted side by side in a monument to interfaith coexistence that is extraordinarily rare in the subcontinent.

Alongside, the folklore murals tell Punjab's eternal love stories — Soni and Mahiwal, Heer and Ranjha, Sassi and Punnu — romances as timeless as Romeo and Juliet, yet rooted in the soil and spirit of Punjab. Together, they form a poetic archive of the region's emotional and cultural memory, painted onto walls so that what the heart could not forget, the stone would hold.

Tiny beads as jewelry are embedded in the pigment. Faces are rendered with haunting realism. Geometric wood panel ceilings inlaid with mirror shards scatter light across hexagonal cobblestone floors worn smooth by centuries of footsteps.

These murals were painted by artists of multiple faiths — Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, and folk traditions working in the same space, producing the same beauty. In a world increasingly fractured by religious division, Pothi Mala stands as quiet evidence that it has not always been this way.

THE RELICS

The sacred relics housed at Pothi Mala are not museum artifacts. They are living inheritances — objects touched by the Gurus, prayed over across generations, and treated as a continuous spiritual presence.

The Padam Sahib is a radiant agate stone bearing soft rippling bands of cream, jade, and honey, imprinted with the image of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and the mark of his right foot. When held in prayer, it is said to carry the quiet power of his presence.

The Saligram Sahib is a rounded, onyx-like stone marked by deep concentric rings — ancient, centered, quietly sacred. Revered as a symbol of Lord Vishnu's timeless presence, it becomes a bridge across faiths.

The Pothi Sahib — believed to hold Guru Nanak Dev Ji's early hymns — was stolen in 1971 during a train journey from New Delhi to Ferozepur. It has never been recovered. Its absence remains a wound the family carries still, and a quiet hope they have never relinquished.

The Mala, Guru Nanak Dev Ji's rosary, was also stolen during that incident and was never recovered.

THE ANNUAL MELA

Darshan

MELA AT pothi mala

Each year, on the first day of the Bikrami Samvat — the Hindu calendar — Pothi Mala hosts its annual Mela: a gathering of remembrance, devotion, and unity. Devotees travel from across India and the diaspora to offer prayers and receive darshan — the sacred viewing of the relics. Kirtan fills the air. Langar — the communal meal served to all without distinction of caste, religion, or status — is prepared and shared. For one day each year, the courtyard that has witnessed centuries of history becomes a living community again.

Langar

Vendors

Volunteers

Kirtan

To learn more about Pothi Mala's history, architecture, holy relics, and conservation efforts, visit the official Pothi Mala website: pothimala.com

Site maintained by Diamond Sodhi, one of the custodians of the Sodhi lineage.

What Pothi Mala Deserves

Pothi Mala is deteriorating.

Some roofs have caved in. Some murals have collapsed into dust. The political neglect of recent decades has left one of India's most significant unprotected heritage sites without sustained institutional support. Development funds have vanished. The Archaeological Survey of India has shown no sustained interest. Each monsoon takes a little more.

The murals of Pothi Mala deserve documentation, preservation, and restoration. The stories of the women who sustained this place across seventeen generations deserve to be told.

The Path Seeker is one act of preservation — the kind that outlasts walls. But the walls themselves still need saving.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji

Lord Krishna

What You Can Do

If you are a heritage preservation organization, an academic institution, a documentary filmmaker, a journalist, or simply someone moved by what Pothi Mala represents, Ruby Sodhi welcomes conversation.

Pothi Mala is not a museum. It is not a tourist site. It is a living spiritual inheritance, open to devotees and seekers, asking only to be seen before it disappears.

CONTACT

To restore Pothi Mala is not nostalgia. It is an act of faith — a declaration that despite fragmentation, we still believe in wholeness.

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