Nankana Sahib gets ready to host 20,000

* Guru Nanak’s 538th birth anniversary will begin on November 2
* 150 pilgrims arrive on Saturday, Dubai delegation expected today

LAHORE: About 20,000 Sikh pilgrims are expected to arrive in Nankana Sahib for the three-day celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev’s 538th birth anniversary to begin on November 2.

The Nankana Sahib district administration has devised a security plan and is making arrangements for boarding and food for the pilgrims following recommendations by the Pakistan Sikh Gurdawara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC).

Bazaars will be decorated and special stalls will be set up to feature traditional food and apparel and books and cassettes on Punjabi poetry and Sikh religion. About 4,000 pilgrims are expected to arrive from India and 2,500 from Canada, the US and England. The first delegation of 150 pilgrims including some from India arrived on Saturday and was received by the PSGPC President Sardar Bishan Singh. Another delegation of 35 pilgrims from Dubai is expected in Lahore today (Sunday). Evacuee Property Trust Board and the Sheikhupura administration have made arrangements to receive the pilgrims.

Talking to Daily Times, the PSGPC president said Sikhs held special prayers and processions to commemorate the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev (the founder of Sikh religion). Devotees thronged Gurdawaras (Sikh temples) to hear hymns from Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh holy book) and participate in the three-day festivities to honour their spiritual leader, he said.

“Sikhs vow to promote peace, friendship and love on the day,” he said, “in line with Guru Nanak’s teachings.” He said functions would be arranged in all Gurdawaras of the country this year and a procession (Nagar Kirtan) would be arranged at Nankana Sahib.

PSGPC senior member Sardar Sham Singh said Pakistan was very important for Sikhs because Guru Nanak Dev was born and died in Pakistan. The Sikh faith began in Lahore in the 15th century, he said, when Guru Nanak began a faith that preached human equality.

Guru Nanak was born in 1469 in a village known as Talwandi Rai Bhoe in Nankana Sahib. Nanak was a monotheist and preached human equality and brotherhood. He was greatly influenced by Kabir and Sheikh Ibrahim Farid - a descendent of famous Sufi mystic Sheikh Fariduddin Shakarganj of Pakpattan, whose works were incorporated in the Garanth Sahib. Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs, is a compilation of works of 10 Sikh gurus and Hindu and Muslim Sufi writings. Guru Nanak established the first Gurdawara and called it Dharamshala. staff report

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