Patna turns into mini-Punjab as Sikhs gather for Prakash Parv

Prime Minister to attend 350th anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh in city

Momentous occasion: Panj Pyaras at a procession during the 350 th Prakash Parv in Patna on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on Thursday to participate in the closing of the Prakash Parv, organised to celebrate the 350th birth anniversary of the 10th Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal arrived in Patna on Wednesday while Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar conducted an aerial survey of the city to oversee the arrangements for the festival.

Devotees from abroad

With three tent-cities and all hotels, guest houses, community halls booked to their capacity, Patna has transformed into a mini-Punjab. Hundreds of thousands of Sikh devotees from across the world have congregated in the city.

They are grateful to the State government for making “fabulous and fantastic” arrangements for the occasions. All prominent government establishments have been lit up, and roads leading to the Takht Sri Patna Sahib, originally built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to commemorate Guru Gobind’s birth in the city, have been decorated.

The State government has declared a holiday for its employees.

Overwhelmed by the state-of-the-art arrangements, former Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh, who visited Patna on Tuesday, invited Nitish Kumar to campaign for the Congress party in the upcoming Assembly elections.

“I did not expect such arrangements from the Bihar government…it is really fabulous and fantastic…my sincere thanks to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar,” Sardar Kartar Singh, who along with his family members has come from Canada to participate in the Prakash Parv, told The Hindu .

‘Once in a lifetime’

Even locals are impressed. “I have never seen such lighting and arrangements at Gandhi Maidan, it is once in a lifetime opportunity for me,” government employee Saket Kumar said.

Round-the-clock social and religious activities are taking place inside the tent-cities.

The government has also made arrangements for free transportation of Sikh devotees from the airport, railway station or bus stands to their respective destinations.

Prakash Parv, which began on January 1, will end on Thursday with special prayers in which Mr. Modi, Mr. Badal, Mr. Kumar and a large number of other dignitaries will participate.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to stay in Patna for two hours.