Mumbai: Nagar kirtans, langar to mark Guru Nanak Jayanti on Tuesday

MUMBAI: The sweet strains of prabhat pheri and nagar kirtan, and the aroma of Punjabi delicacies at community langar are in the air as the Sikh and Sindhi sangat celebrates Guru Nanak Jayanti on Tuesday November 8.
Kartik Purnima or Tripurari Purnima will be celebrated over November 7-8 by the Hindu, Sikh and Jain communities. This year the occurrence of a lunar eclipse will alter temple timings Tuesday.
Gurupurab rituals began over the weekend with Gurdwara Dhan Pothohar in Santacruz leading a two-hour long prabhat pheri in the locality at 5.30am. On Sunday, gurdwaras in Andheri organised nagar kirtan from Lokhandwala Complex to Four Bungalows.
Dhan Pothohar has a full five-day calendar of festivities with nagar kirtan, daily langar meals -- and a special performance by the Bagpiper Band and Bir Khalsa Gatka Group from Punjab on Monday evening. "On Tuesday, celebrations will start with Nitnem at 5.00am, followed by kirtan by veteran artistes from Delhi, Amritsar, Jalandhar, as well as Path Sahib and Kavi darbar. The programme will continue till 1.30am. Given that well over 50,000 people, including elite businessmen and celebrities, stream in through the day, valet parking has been arranged at a nearby ground. At least 30,000 devotees partake of the langar meal," said president Inderjit Singh Sethi.
On Kartik Purnima, Maharashtrian women visit temples like Sri Ram Mandir, Matunga, where Lord Kartik's idol is installed, with a peacock feather to seek blessings. Jains visit Palitana which is a pilgrimage centre in Bhavnagar. On November 7 at Sri Sankara Mattam in Matunga, the shivling will be smeared with cooked rice mixed with butter, and decorated with vegetables and fruits in the 'annabhishekam' ritual.