India wants Nepal to promote Sikh shrine

Kathmandu, Nepal: India today suggested to Nepal that it could promote Bishnumati River Guru Nanak shrine, visited by the first Sikh Guru 500 years ago, as a centre for religious tourism.

Guru Nanak Dev visited the river bank in Kathmandu 497 years ago when the Malla dynasty was ruling Nepal, said Pritam Singh of Guru Nanak Satsang in Kathmandu.

When the King of Nepal learnt that an Indian spiritual guru was in Kathmandu, he tried to meet him to seek treatment for his ill son.

Nanak, however, had already left for Varanasi. The King then visited Varanasi and met the guru and his son was subsequently cured. The happy King then donated some land in Kathmandu to Guru Nanak for establishing the shrine, Singh said.

“If Bishnumati Guru Nanak shrine can be developed as an important pilgrimage site, international visitors and pilgrims can be attracted, which can promote tourism in Nepal,” said Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae during Guru Nanak’s 546th birth anniversary celebrations.

Source: The Tribune