Guga Marhi Pir Mandir

History

The UT tourism Heritage Trees document (item 8) describes the “Guga Marhi” site near PGI’s south wall with a holy peepal and two banyan trees, noting a chauntra built around the trees and active devotee use.

The shrine illustrates how medical-campus urbanisation retained small neighbourhood pirs and trees that predated Chandigarh’s hospital expansion.

Stories

Gugga Pir, Protector Against Snakes

Guga, also called Gugga Pir or Gogaji, is a folk hero venerated across Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and the western Himalayas as a saint and protector against snakebite. Legend describes him as a Chauhan Rajput warrior who ruled the small kingdom of Dadrewa, but historians say little is known for certain about his life.

In Punjab his day is Guga Naumi, observed in the late monsoon on the ninth day of the dark half of Bhadon, with songs and oral tales. Though a Hindu figure, he is also honoured by many Muslim devotees, who call him a pir.

A Banyan That Predates Chandigarh's Hospital

Chandigarh Tourism's report on the city's heritage trees lists the Guga Marhi Pir Mandir, outside the south wall of the PGI near the institute roundabout, as the site of a holy peepal and two bargad (banyan) trees. A raised platform, or chauntra, has been built around them.

The report describes the largest banyan as about 21 feet around the trunk, with a canopy spread of about 63 feet and a height of 50 to 55 feet, and gives its age as roughly 250 years. That figure is an estimate from the report, not a measured date.

Good to know

Listed as Guga Marhi Pir Mandir near PGI in the Heritage Trees report

Heritage peepal and banyan trees documented at the same site

Short road approach from Sector 12 / Madhya Marg PGI roundabout

Getting there

Nearest airport: Chandigarh International Airport. Nearest railhead: Chandigarh Junction. Auto or cab to PGI roundabout; the mandir sits outside PGI’s south wall per the tourism PDF.