HT Correspondents

letterschd@hindustantimes.com

Sultanpur Lodhi : Nearly 10 lakh devotees visited the historic town of Sultanpur Lodhi on Tuesday to pay obeisance at historic Sikh shrines, particularly Gurdwara Ber Sahib, on the 550th birth anniversary of first Sikh master Guru Nanak.

Nearly 50 lakh pilgrims have visited the town, where the first guru is believed to have spent 14 years of his life, since November 1, the district administration officials said.

Sporting colourful turbans or pieces of cloth covering their heads, people of different age groups with a sense of devotion thronged the town which remained jam-packed throughout the day. The celebrations by the Punjab government and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) officially culminated on Tuesday.

langar sites on last day

To mark the last day, special arrangements were made at various langar sites at on Tuesday with new dishes being added into the menu. Also, fast food being served at langars of Baba Nidhan Singh remained centres of attraction among the devotees.

At the langar of Baba Maan Singh Pehowa (Haryana), around 550 items, including 200 types of sweets, a variety of vegetables, ice-creams and soft drinks, were served. They also cut a cake weighing 550 kilogram.

Long queues were seen outside various exhibitions, especially the one organised by the Union ministry of information and broadcasting, based on Guru Nanak. In the evening, people were enthralled by a light-and-sound show on the Guru organised by the state government.

Thousands of devotees took a dip in the Kali Bein, the rivulet flowing through the middle of the town where Guru Nanak is believed to have attained enlightenment after taking a dip in it.

Jagdeep Kaur, a pilgrim from Gujarat, said it was like a dream come true to take a dip in the rivulet after decades as the government released several cusecs of water into it.fry

HT Correspondent

letterschd@hindustantimes.com

AMRITSAR  : Around 4 lakh devotees from across the world on Tuesday paid obeisance at the Golden Temple on the occasion of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh faith.

“This year, the number of devotees has almost doubled than the last year’s Parkash Purb. Usually on the occasion, 2 to 3lakh people pay obeisance at the Goldent Temple. But since this year marks the 550th birth anniversary of the Guru, the figure has shot up to this scale,” said Jaswinder Singh Deenpur, manager of the Golden Temple.

In the evening, the shrine was splendidly lit up and fireworks were seen dancing across the sky, giving it a beautiful view. On the Golden Temple premises, Dhadi jathas were busy narrating glorious history of Guru Nanak.

Ramdas, who had come from the USA, said,“I am in the country on a North India trip. Yesterday, I came to know about the Parkash Purb celebrations. So I decided to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple. I feel blessed.”

Kavita Kumari, 34, from New Delhi was in the holy city with his family. She said, “This is my first visit to the Golden Temple. I had heard about the Guru’s celebrations in Punjab, so we planned our visited accordingly. This was such an enriching experience. I will visit the city again.”

Sukhpreet Singh, 24, a resident of Mumbai said, “I along with my family members first visited Dera Baba Nanak. There we paid obeisance at the Gurdwara Darbar sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan, through binoculars , then we paid our respect at the Golden Temple. We have been coming to the temple every year on the occasion of Parkash Purab.”