The Puran Bhagat well, known locally as Puran da Khoo or Puran di Khui, is in Karol village, about 8 km from Sialkot city beside the Chaprar Road. It is the well where, in Punjabi folklore, Prince Puran was thrown after his hands and feet were cut off, and where the yogi Gorakhnath found him. Today it is a small, simple site: a working well, a small temple-shaped building and an old tree, visited mainly by couples hoping for a child.
This guide tells the story behind the well, explains what is actually there now, and covers how to reach it and what to pair it with in Sialkot. Go for the legend and the living folk practice, not for architecture.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Local names | Puran da Khoo, Puran di Khui |
| Location | Karol village, beside Chaprar Road, about 8 km from Sialkot city |
| What is there | A running well, a small temple-shaped building, an old tree |
| Associated with | Puran Bhagat, Raja Salban (Salivahan), Gorakhnath |
| Time needed | 30 to 45 minutes on site |
| Entry fee and hours | None published; it is an open village site |
| Pair with | Sialkot Fort, Shawala Teja Singh, Iqbal Manzil |
Where is Puran Bhagat's well?
The Sialkot District Gazetteer 2021-22, compiled by the district administration, places Puran da Khoo in village Karol, 8 km from Sialkot city and adjacent to Chaprar Road. A 2003 Dawn report describes Karol as a border village in the Kotli Syed Ameer sector, which fits: the Chaprar Road runs north-east from the city towards the frontier with Jammu.
There is no official signboard network leading to it that we could confirm, so the practical approach is to head out on the Chaprar Road and ask for "Puran da khoo" once you are near Karol. People in the area know it.
What is the legend of Puran Bhagat?
The story belongs to the oldest layer of Sialkot's legends, the ones told about Raja Salban (also written Salivahan or Salwan), whom tradition credits with founding the city and building Sialkot Fort. The district gazetteer gives the outline, and Dawn, The News and Wikipedia's retelling fill in the rest.
- Puran is sent away. Raja Salban's queen, Ichhran, gives birth to a son, Puran. Astrologers warn that the king must not see his son's face for 12 years, so the boy is raised away from the court.
- Luna's accusation. In those years the raja marries again. His young second queen, Luna (also Loona or Loonan), is close to Puran in age. When Puran returns, she makes advances; he refuses her, and she accuses him of assaulting her.
- The punishment. The enraged raja orders that Puran's hands and feet be cut off and that he be thrown into a well. Tareekh-i-Sialkot, quoted by Dawn, calls it Chah-i-Zindan.
- Gorakhnath. The yogi Gorakhnath finds Puran in the well, restores his limbs and takes him as a disciple. Puran becomes a yogi of the Nath tradition, later known as Chauranginath.
- The return. Years later Puran comes back to Sialkot as a holy man. In The News' retelling he restores his grieving mother's sight, and he blesses the childless Luna, who then gives birth to Raja Rasalu, the other great hero of Punjabi folk tales.
Some retellings say Puran spent 12 years in the well before he was rescued, and one has the yogi who saves him come from Tilla Jogian, the great Nath centre in Jhelum. Details vary from version to version, as they do with any story told for centuries.
Is any of it historical?
Nobody can date the well, and there is no archaeological study of it that we could find. Raja Salban himself is a legendary figure, placed by tradition in the first or second century CE, and the district gazetteer and Wikipedia both present the Puran story as folklore rather than recorded history.
What is real and documented is the place the story holds. The Sufi poet Qadir Yar (1802 to 1892), from Gujranwala district, wrote one of the best known Punjabi versions of the Puran Bhagat qissa. In 1965 Shiv Kumar Batalvi retold it from the stepmother's side in his verse play Loona, which won him the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1967. There were films called Puran Bhagat as early as 1928 and 1933. In Sialkot itself, the Puran Nagar neighbourhood is named after him.
What will you see at the well today?
Expect very little in the way of buildings. The district gazetteer describes "a running well and a temple shaped small building", and the 2003 Dawn report mentions the small well, a small temple and a centuries-old tree beside them. There is no museum, no interpretation board that we could confirm and no formal visitor facilities.
What makes the site interesting is how it is used. Before Partition, Hindu and Sikh couples came here to pray for children. That practice did not end in 1947: Dawn reported that Muslim couples from across Pakistan now come for the same reason, bathing at the well on Sunday nights in the moonlit part of each Islamic month and tying coloured dupattas to the old tree. The 2021-22 gazetteer still notes that childless women visit in the hope of a child.
Restoration plans
In October 2025 Punjab's Minister for Minorities Affairs, Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora, announced that a team from the Walled City of Lahore Authority would revive Puran Bhagat's khooh alongside the restoration of the Shawala Teja Singh temple in Sialkot (APP). We found no report of what the work involves or whether it has started, so you may find the site unchanged, or partly under works.
How do you get there from Sialkot?
The well is a short drive from the city, and most visitors come by car or rickshaw.
- By car: take the Chaprar Road out of Sialkot and ask for Karol village, then for Puran da khoo. The distance is only about 8 km, but leaving the old city through bazaar traffic can take longer than the drive itself.
- By rickshaw or ride-hailing car: agree a return fare and ask the driver to wait, as you are unlikely to find a ride back from the village.
- From Lahore or Islamabad: come to Sialkot first. Our Lahore to Sialkot guide covers the motorway and the drive time.
Go in daylight. Dawn describes Karol as a border village, and the area towards the Working Boundary with Indian-administered Jammu can see extra security during periods of tension between the two countries. Check local news before you go, and if police or the army stop you on the road, follow their instructions.
How should you behave at the site?
This is still a place of prayer, and many of the people you meet there will have come with a very private hope.
- Keep your voice down and do not treat the rituals as a show.
- Ask before photographing anyone, and do not photograph women bathing or praying.
- Leave the dupattas and offerings on the tree alone.
- Dress modestly, as you would at any shrine in Punjab.
There are no published opening hours and no entry fee that we could find. The Sunday night gatherings are the busiest time; a weekday morning is quieter if you only want to see the place.
Is it worth visiting?
It is worth it if you care about Punjabi folklore, Qadir Yar's qissa or Batalvi's Loona, or the way old Hindu and Sikh sacred places in Pakistan are still used by people of other faiths. Standing at the well where the story is set gives the legend a weight a book cannot.
It is not worth a special trip if you want monuments. There is a well, a small building and a tree, and the drive out is through ordinary farmland and villages. The sensible plan is to fold it into a day in the city: Sialkot Fort, Iqbal Manzil and the Shawala temple, with the well as a 90-minute side trip. Our list of places to visit in Sialkot has more ideas, and our experiences page collects similar heritage and festival outings across Pakistan.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Puran Bhagat's well located?
It is in Karol village, about 8 km from Sialkot city next to the Chaprar Road, according to the Sialkot District Gazetteer 2021-22. Ask for "Puran da khoo" when you reach the village.
Who was Puran Bhagat?
In Punjabi folklore he was the son of Raja Salban of Sialkot. Falsely accused by his stepmother Luna, he was mutilated and thrown into a well, then rescued by the yogi Gorakhnath and became a Nath yogi and saint.
Is there an entry fee at Puran's Well?
We found no published fee or opening hours. It is an open site in a village, so go in daylight and be respectful of the people praying there.
Why do childless couples visit Puran's Well?
Because in the legend Puran blessed his childless stepmother, who then bore Raja Rasalu. Couples of all faiths have prayed at the well for children for generations, and some bathe there on Sunday nights.
Is the well being restored?
The Punjab government announced in October 2025 that the Walled City of Lahore Authority would restore it along with the Shawala Teja Singh temple. We could not confirm whether work has begun.
What else is there to see near Puran's Well?
In Sialkot city you can see Sialkot Fort, the Shawala Teja Singh temple and Iqbal Manzil, the house where Allama Iqbal was born. All three fit into the same day.
