Prakashotsava: ‘Nagar kirtan’ marks second day

PATNA: Chants of ‘Wahe Guruji ka khalsa, wahe Guruji ki fateh’ rented the air as hundreds of Sikh devotees from across the globe participated in a ‘nagar kirtan’ on the second day of the main functions of Prakashotsava, the 352nd birth anniversary celebrations of tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, on Saturday.

Led by ‘Panj Pyare’ (the five beloved ones), the kirtan was taken out from Gai Ghat Gurdwara on Saturday afternoon and reached the Takhat Sri Harmandir Ji Patna Sahib Gurdwara late evening. The procession, which had horses, elephants, camels and musical instruments, crossed City Chowk, Khajekala and Pashchim Darwaza. They were also served snacks and tea at different points on their way.


According to Takhat Sri Harmandir Ji Patna Sahib Prabandhak Committee member R S Jeet, devotees were served chapatis, vegetables, ‘pulao’, pulses and ‘kada prasad’ in the langar.

“Governor Lalji Tandon, chief minister Nitish Kumar and several MPs and MLAs will be present at the main Prakashotsava function on Sunday. We are expecting at least 25,000 devotees to attend the event which will be telecast live,” said Jeet.


State transport secretary Sanjay Kumar Agarwal claimed at least 50 e-rickshaws were plying free of cost in Patna City to take devotees to various pilgrimage sites.


“We are also running 20 buses in addition to the 15 buses, which were introduced previous year for Patna City, from different places like airport, railway stations and bus stands. This free service is available 24X7 till January 15. Devotees are not being charged even if they are using other buses and will be given seats on a priority basis,” said Agarwal, adding three buses were also being run on the Patna-Rajgir route to take the visitors to Rajgir.