Devotees across Punjab and Haryana on Wednesday thronged gurdwaras, including Golden Temple at Amritsar, to mark Baisakhi festival which is being celebrated with great fervour and enthusiasm.
The festival commemorates establishment of the Khalsa panth or Sikh order by tenth Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh on Baisakhi Day on April 13, 1699.
It also marks the start of the harvest season in Punjab and Haryana.
In Amritsar, several devotees, from home and abroad paid obeisance in the sanctum sanctorum of Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh shrine, on the occasion of Baisakhi festival.
At various locations in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh people served free food and drinking water to devotees going to pay obeisance at temples and Sikh shrines.
Sikh devotees along with their family members took holy dip in the Sarovar (holy water pond) carrying religious belief in their mind that this exercise purifies one’s heart and mind.
After Ardas (prayer as per Sikh rituals) and distribution of Karah Parshad (sweet pudding), langar (community kitchen) was also served.
Since Tuesday night, hundreds of devotees queued up to pay obeisance in the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple and at Akal Takht (Highest Sikh Temporal Seat).
To mark the occasion, the management of the Golden Temple has beautifully decorated the Golden Temple.
Keeping in view the heavy rush of the devotees, the district administration and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) officials had jointly made elaborate security arrangements at the Golden Temple.
Devotees also offered prayers at Talwandi Sabo, Anandpur Sahib, Muktsar, Fatehgarh Sahib among other places in Punjab and at Nadha Sahab (Panchkula) and Kurukshetra in Haryana, reports here said.
Many devotees took holy dips in the Sarovars (sacred tanks), while Akhand Paths (48-hour long recitation of Sikh scripture), kirtans (singing of hymns) and kathas (religious discourses) were also undertaken to mark the occasion. langars (Community kitchens) were also organised for the devotees.