LUCKNOW: The international
nagar kirtan
(a Sikh procession) — the first since Partition and meant to mark the 550th birth anniversary of
Guru Nanak
— reached the City of Nawabs from Shahjahanpur on Tuesday after covering Pakistan and entering India via the Wagah-Attari border.
Despite late hours, hundreds of devotees thronged Yahiyaganj Gurdwara where a grand reception was hosted in honour of the procession carrying the saroop (form) of
Guru Granth Sahib
from Gurdwara
Nankana Sahib
in Pakistan, the birthplace of first Sikh guru.
Devotees rolled out a carpet, showered petals, burst crackers and chanted ‘Jo Bole So Nihal Sat Sri Akaal’ and ‘Tan Taran Guru Nanak Aya’ to welcome the saroop carried by Yahiyaganj Gurdwara head granthi Giani Paramveer Singh on his head and led by the Panj Pyaras (five beloved ones) from
Amritsar
.
While the Granth Sahib was placed inside the holy palanquin in the gurdwara, a sea of devotees lined up in front of the bus ferrying the shastra of the Sikh gurus and the khadau (slippers) of Guru Nanak to pay their obeisance with folded hands. “It is a historic moment for us and the city to witness a nagar kirtan after nearly 72 years of Partition,” said Dr Gurmit Singh of Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee.
After a night’s halt, the nagar kirtan will leave Yahiyaganj at 10am on Wednesday and pass through gurdwara’s in the city, including the ones in Naka Hindola, Alambagh, Sadar and Aashiana, before leaving Lucknow.
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