Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji founded the settlement in 1665. Guru Gobind Singh Ji instituted the Khalsa there in 1699.
Anandpur was besieged and abandoned in December 1704. The Guru's two elder sons died at Chamkaur Sahib. The two younger sons and Mata Gujri Ji were taken to Sirhind.
Hola Mohalla is held here, with gatka, tent-pegging, bareback riding and mock combat.
Virasat-e-Khalsa, designed by Moshe Safdie, opened to the public in November 2011. It recorded 8.8 million cumulative visitors by May 2018 and 9.7 million by February 2019, and was rated India's highest-footfall museum. No annual or cumulative figure has been published since 2019.
The town sits at the point where the plain meets the Shivaliks, which is why it was defensible and why the five forts were sited as they were. The Charan Ganga, a seasonal stream, runs past it and the Nihang procession at Hola Mohalla crosses it.
Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib stands where the Khalsa was created in 1699 and holds weapons associated with Guru Gobind Singh Ji, displayed on specific days.
Nothing at Anandpur has been excavated. The forts have been rebuilt repeatedly, the town has grown over the ground, and the archaeology of the most consequential site in Sikh history has never been examined at all.