Gurdwara Sri Mata Kaulsar Sahib

Location - Golden Temple Road, Amritsar City, Punjab 143006, India

Associated with - Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji, Bibi Kaulan Ji

Sikh Artifacts - unknown

Sarovar - Yes

Sarai - Yes

Gurdwara Sri Mata Kaulsar Sahib, also known as Gurdwara Mata Kaulan Sahib or Gurdwara Kaulsar Sahib, is a sacred Sikh Gurdwara on the western side of Gurdwara Sri Baba Atal Sahib in Amritsar near the main Darbar Sahib at Sri Harmandir Sahib.

Bibi Kaulan was a highly spiritual woman who was above religious divides and took refuge with Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji at Amritsar (1606-1645). The samadh of Mata Kaulan lies at the western end of the Kaulsar Gurdwara.

Mata Kaulan, against whom her 'father' the qazi had pronounced a death sentence, for showing devotion to Sikh Gurus, was brought discreetly to Amritsar by Pir Mian Mir.

Mata Kaulan, who was allotted a special place near Sri Harmandir Sahib and Gurdwara Sri Baba Atal Sahib, where she spent most of her adult life before breathing her last at Kartarpur.

Next to the Gurdwara Mata Kaulan lies a sarovar (pool) known as Kaulsar Sahib or Kaulsar Sarvor, named after a holy lady who was raised as a muslim called Bibi Kaulan, the adopted (possibly hindu) daughter of the Qazi of Lahore.

The significance of Gurdwara Mata Kaulan and Kaulsar sarovar could be adjudged from the fact that Guru Hargobind directed Sikhs to bathe in the Kaulsar sarovar before the Sri Harmandir Sahib (a sakhi to this effect is written right outside the entrance of Gurdwara Sri Mata Kaulsar Sahib, adjacent to the Darbar Sahib).

The excavation of Kaulsar was started in 1624 and was completed in 1627 under the supervision of Baba Budha Ji, the first head Granthi of Sri Harmandir Sahib. Kaulsar is one of the five holy tanks (Sarovars) at the holy city of Amritsar including Santokhsar, Bibeksar, Ramsar and the main one after which the city is named, Amritsar at Sri Harmandir Sahib.

In March 2004, the karseva of the first-ever sarovar named after a muslim woman, Mata Kaulan, adjoining Sri Harmandir Sahib was completed when a 'state of the art' filteration system was also installed.