Sikh pilgrims from all over the world on Monday poured into Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Pakistan’s Punjab province to celebrate the 549th birth anniversary of Sikhim’s founder, Guru Nanak Dev.
Over 3,800 Indian Sikh pilgrims, 148 from the UK, seven from United Arab Emirates and thousands of Sikh and Hindu devotees from various parts of Pakistan, especially Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and interior Sindh, arrived at the gurdwara deemed as the third most sacred place of Sikh religion, to perform their rituals which include ‘Akhand Path’, ‘Ashnan’, ‘Matha Tek’ and ‘Kirtan’, reports Dawn news.
Elaborate security measures were taken in and around the gurdwara where dozens of officials from the security agencies were deployed. Talking to the media, leader of the Indian pilgrims Marjeet Singh lauded the role of the Pakistani government in opening the Kartarpur corridor.
He said with this, the Pakistani government had won the hearts of millions of Sikhs living on the other side of the border. The number of pilgrims had also increased compared to last year, he added.
