Panipat all set to mark Guru Teg Bahadur’s 400th birth anniv today
KARNAL: A sea of devotees is expected to converge on to Panipat on Sunday for the 400th birth anniversary celebrations of Sikh Guru Teg Bahadur.
As per the district administration, arrangements have been made to host over two lakh devotees, including at least one lakh from other states and countries, at the Sector 13-17 ground, spread over 25 acres along the national highway. Special buses have also been arranged for ferrying devotees from all district headquarters in Haryana.
The administration has raised tarpaulin tents at the venue for devotees to take cover from the scorching heat. Also two langar halls (community kitchens), with a capacity of 4,000 people each, and several stalls for meditation and serving chabeel (sweetened water) have been set up.
A committee of around 150 people, including representatives of several Sikh bodies, gurdwaras, local administration and elected officials, has been monitoring preparations for the event.
The officials deputed to look into the arrangements said chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has been personally monitoring every development related to the event and has held several meetings with officials and gurdwara heads over the last couple of weeks.
President of Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (ad-hoc), Baljit Singh Daduwal hailed the efforts of state government and said, “I inspected all arrangements and am happy to see the efforts and dedication of the chief minister in organising such a major event.”
He added that besides the government, people across the country and abroad are contributing to provide basic facilities to the Sangat (religious congregation).
A cleanliness drive was also carried out in Panipat on Friday ahead of the event.
On Saturday, ADGP (CID) Alok Mittal and IGP Karnal Range Satender Kumar Gupta reviewed the security arrangements. Panipat superintendent of police Shashank Kumar Sawan said, “A total of 1,320 police officials, including eight supervising officers and 22 inspector-level officers, will be keeping tabs on the security situation during the day.”