AMRITSAR: A large number of devotees today thronged the gurudwaras across the state, including the GoldenTemple here, to mark Baisakhi festival, which was celebrated with great fervor and enthusiasm.
The festival commemorates establishment of the Khalsa panth or Sikh order by tenth Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh on Baisakhi Day on April 13, 1699. It also relates to the start of the season in which wheat is harvested in north India.
The devotees offered prayers at Golden Temple in Amritsar, Talwandi Sabo, Anandpur Sahib, Muktsar, Fatehgarh Sahib among other places in Punjab and at Nadha Sahab (Panchkula) and Kurukshetra in Haryana.
Many devotees took holy dips in the Sarovars (sacred tanks), while ‘Akhand Paths’ (48-hour long recitation of Sikh scripture), ‘kirtans’ (singing of hymns) and ‘kathas’ (religious discourses) were undertaken to mark the occasion.
Community kitchens were also organized on the occasion.
In Amritsar, a large number of devotees including many from abroad, paid obeisance in the holy Sikh shrine of Golden Temple.
Keeping in view the heavy rush of the devotees, the district administration and SGPC officials had jointly made elaborate security arrangements at the GoldenTemple. -PTI
