Paonta Sahib is a town in the Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh. It is an important religious center for Sikhs and sacred to the memory of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji who stayed here soon after his father Guru Tegh Bahadur’s execution when he became the Sikh Guru in 1675. This is place where most of Bani’s of Dasam Granth were written by Guru Gobind Singh. Paonta Sahib has a large Gurdwara on the banks of the river Yamuna, the river being the boundary between the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The Gurdwaras have a very busy Langar that serves free food to 5,000 visitors every day. Paonta Sahib retains tangibly memories of the martial Guru in the form of his weapons and a majestic Gurdwara and recalls his presence. The name of the town is derived from “paon” meaning “foot” because the Guru’s horse decided to stop and not move from this place. Guru Ji decided to set up camp at the spot. From 1685 to 1689, Guru Gobind Singh wrote many religious and poetic works here before he returned to Anandpur Sahib to establish the Khalsa Panth. There are 4 Historic Sikh Gurdwaras in Paonta Sahib, 3 are within the main Gurdwara complex and Gurdwara Sri Shergarh Sahib is nearby at Nihal Garh.