All set for Gurpurb celebrations in Nepal after 30 yrs

Amritsar, Punjab: The stage is set for the Guru Nanak Dev birth anniversary celebrations at 400-year-old Gurdwara Guru Nanak Math in Nepal on a large-scale after a gap of three decades.

Talking to The Tribune on the phone from Kathmandu, Guru Nanak Math committee member Bhag Singh Saini said there was great enthusiasm as the Gurpurb celebrations on such a scale had been planned after 30 years. He said an “akhand path” would start tomorrow while its “bhog” ceremony would take place on November 17 to mark the occasion.

“We have planned to put up langar at various points in the city, including a big one near Pashu Pati Nath Temple. Two buses of pilgrims have reached here from Punjab and Chandigarh. Among them are devotees from UP and Bihar as well,” he said.

He said pilgrims from Malaysia, England and America had also reached Nepal. He, however, said the number of pilgrims arriving there had dipped in view of the elections in Nepal a couple of days later. There were around 150 Sikh families in Nepal, most of them in transport business, looking after the gurdwara.

Saini said Sri Guru Nanak Sewa Society, California, had undertaken upkeep and construction work at Nepal gurdwaras following approval by the Akal Takht in 2006. “At present, the ‘kar sewa’ of a gurdwara associated with Baba Sri Chand is underway.”