KOVIND PAYS OBEISANCE AT SULTANPUR LODHI
GURU NANAK’S 550TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS: President Ram Nath Kovind (2nd from right) and his wife Savita Kovind (extreme right) with (from left, front row) Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh, governor VP Singh Badnore and Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot at an event organised to mark Parkash Purb in Sultanpur Lodhi on Tuesday.
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. Special arrangements at 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.