Gurudwara Pathar Sahib, Leh ,J & K,India

In the late 1970s, during the construction of the Leh-Nimu road, a large boulder was found in the middle of the road bed covered with Buddhists prayer flags by Lamas. The bulldozer driver tried to push and throw away the stone but it did not move and in the process the blades broke and the work stopped. The driver had a dream that night not to move the stone.

He narrated his dream to the army officer who did not give any importance to it. When all efforts to remove it failed it was decided to blow it apart with dynamite the next day. That night the army officer also had a dream not to remove the stone but he again disregarded it. The next day being Sunday he and the workers were visited, early in the morning, by several Lamas and Ladhakhis who came and told them a true story of Baba Nanak ji and the unyielding boulder.

On enquiring further he was told that this pathar they had been having so much trouble with was a "Wax Statue" (a mould with a negative impression) of their revered Lama Nanak and it contained the imprints of his shoulders, head and backside. He was told that during the period of 1515-18 when Guru Nanak was returning back to Punjab through Srinagar, after travelling to Sikkim, Nepal and Tibet, he rested at this place. It is believed that Guru Nanak Dev ji reached Leh via Sikkim, Nepal, Tibet and Yarkhand. The place is revered by both the local lamas and Sikh sangat. Currently the Army is looking after the gurdwara.

As per a local legend, there lived a wicked demon who terrorised the people in the area where the gurdwara is situated. The people prayed to the Almighty for help. It is said that Guru Nanak heard their woes and came to their aid. He settled down on the bank of the river below the hill where the wicked demon lived. The Guru blessed the people with sermons and became popular in the area. The locals called him Nanak Lama. The demon got into a rage and decided to kill Guru Nanak Dev ji.

One morning when the Guru ji was sitting in meditation, the demon rolled down a large pathar (boulder) from the hilltop, with the intention of killing the Guru. The boulder came rolling down and when it touched the Guru's body, it softened like warm wax and came to a halt against Guru Nanak's back. The Guru ji kept on meditating unhurt and undisturbed. Thinking that the Guru ji had been killed, the demon came down and was taken a back to see the Guruji deep in meditation. In a fit of anger, he tried to push the boulder with his right foot, but as the pathar still had the softness of warm wax, his foot got embedded in it. Pulling his foot from the boulder the demon was dumfounded to see the impression his foot had just left in the stone.

On seeing this, the demon realised his own powerlessness as compared with the spiritual powers of the great Guru. He fell at the feet of Guru Nanak Dev ji and begged for forgiveness. Guru Sahib advised him to get rid of his wicked ways and asked him to lead a life of a noble person. This changed the life of the demon, who gave up evil deeds and started serving the people.

Guru Nanak Dev ji thereafter continued his holy journey towards Srinagar via Kargil. The pathar pushed down by the demon, with the imprint of the body of Guru Nanak Dev ji as the the footprint of the demon, is at present on display in Gurdwara Pathar Sahib. It is said that since the visit of Guru Sahib (in 1517) to 1965, the local lamas have held the pathar sacred and offered prayers to it.