Around 2,361 Sikh pilgrims left for India from Pakistan on Saturday by special trains after attending the 549th birth anniversary of the founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev at his birthplace in Nankana Sahib in the Punjab province.
Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Chairman Siddiqul Farooq bid farewell to the pilgrims at the Lahore railways station.
Talking to reporters, ETPB spokesman Ami Hashmi said, “ETPB chairman bid farewell to as many as 2,361 Sikh pilgrims at the Lahore railways station platform.” He said that the pilgrims were transported to the railway station amid high security.
Every year, Sikh pilgrims from India and other countries came to Pakistan and visited Gurdwara Janamesthan Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Panja Sahib Hasan Abdal and Gurdwara Kartar Sahib in Narowal. During this year’s 10-day stay, the Sikh pilgrims took part in religious activities to celebrate the teachings of Guru Nanak.
Sardar Gurmeet Singh, who was leading a group of pilgrims, said that Sikh devotees acted as harbingers of peace, friendship and harmony during their visits to Pakistan. “Pakistan is the land of Sikh Gurus, so Sikhs love this land,” he said.
Every year, devotees from all over the world gathered at Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Hasan Abdal to celebrate Baba Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary.
The celebrations usually lasted for more than a week during which sacred rituals are performed at the Gurdwara and sweets and langar are offered to people, irrespective of their religious orientation.
Guru Nanak Dev was born at Rai Bhoi Ki Talvandi (present day Nankana Sahib), about 80 kilometres from Lahore.
He spent the last years of his life at Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, about three kilometers from the international border that separated India and Pakistan.