Sikh yatrees from Canada, Europe also attend rituals for faith's spiritual head. PHOTOS BY EXPRESS
LAHORE: Three-day rituals of the 480th death anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji -- the founder of Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus -- concluded at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur on Sunday.
Devotees from the around the world, including 145 pilgrims from Canada and different European countries, flocked to the gurdwara.
The three-day event was jointly organised by the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) and Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC).
Sikh devotees from Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Nankana Sahib, among other Pakistani cities also congregated at the gurdwara.
The pilgrims were also taken for a tour of Kartarpur Corridor, which is close to its completion before its official opening in the first week of November for the 550th birthday celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak.
The festivities will start from November 7 and continue till November 15.
They Sikh pilgrims were also apprised on the transportation facilities for the corridor.
PSGPC chief Sardar Satwant Singh, speaking on the occasion, said the border would be opened for Indian pilgrims on November 8.
"We have been waiting for this moment for the last 72 years and it's finally here," Singh added.
Baba Guru Nanak celebration week discussed
He said that the corridor would bring with it peace, adding that, "Sikhs will always be grateful to the Pakistani government for facilitating pilgrims."
The corridor, once operational, will provide visa-free access to Sikhs from India to their holiest Shrine located inside Pakistan. This will also be the first visa-free corridor between the two nuclear-armed neighbours since their independence in 1947.
The proposal has been in the works for over two decades. However, it only began to take shape when in August, the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that Pakistan was planning to open the corridor.
In November, PM Imran performed the groundbreaking ceremony to build a four km long corridor at Kartarpur. The ceremony was attended by the premier’s friend and former Indian cricketer Navjaot Singh Sidhu.
Since then, the construction work has been underway with some pace as authorities are working overnight to meet the deadline.
Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, considered the holiest place in Sikh religion because it is the last resting place of Baba Guru Nanak, is located in Narowal, only 4 kilometres away from the Indian border.
The shrine is visible from the Indian side of the border and every day a larger number of Sikh devotees gather to perform Darshan or sacred viewings of the site.
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