Around 6000 Sikh Yatrees will start arriving Gurudwara, Punja Saab here from April 10 through special trains to celebrate their 313th Baisakhi festival. The arrangements for the festival have been finalised by Evacuee Property Trust Board (EPTB) including accommodation, security and basic facilities for Sikh Yatrees.
The pilgrims will enter from Wagah Border, Lahore and will be taken to Punja Sahib through special trains from April 11 to 13. They will perform their final rituals on April 14 and after visiting Punja Sahib, they will visit Nankana Sahib and other places and return to Lahore, said an official of EPTB while talking to APP.
The Board has made advanced security arrangements to celebrate the festival with peace and harmony and completed the renovation and decoration of Gurudwara before the festival to officially celebrate the minority festival in Pakistan.
Extra rooms for accommodation were constructed before this festival while the basic needs including food, medical facility, travelling and decoration of Gurudwara has been arranged by the government.
The Sikh new year begins with the festival of Baisakhi which also marks the founding of Khalsa Panth as the Sikh Yatrees perform centuries old Baisakhi rituals with devotion.
The joyful festival lift up spirits of Sikh community and add colour to their lives showing their dedication for the religion.
Thousands of followers of Sikh religion across the globe especially from India and different parts of Pakistan attend their religious festival of Baisakhi every year to perform Akhand, Paat Sahib, Phog, Ardas and Hukam Nama.
In Sikhism, it is one of the most significant holidays in the Sikh calendar, commemorating the establishment of the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib in 1699, by the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. To mark the celebrations, devotees, irrespective of Sikh religion, throng at Gurudwara.