A large number of devotees on Saturday were seen offering prayers in Amritsar’s Golden Temple on the occasion of the Baisakhi festival. All the gathered devotees witnessed the fireworks that adorned the sky around the Temple.
The video shared by news agency ANI showed devotees commemorating the festival and recording videos of fireworks with their mobile devices.
#WATCH | Punjab: Fireworks adorn the sky around the Golden Temple in Amritsar, on the occasion of #Baisakhi. A large number of devotees offered prayers here and witnessed the fireworks this evening. pic.twitter.com/kH8skZChLV
— ANI (@ANI) April 13, 2024
Every year this festival is joyously celebrated with glory. It falls during the month of Baisakhi and marks the transition of the Sun from Pisces to Aries, also known as Aries Sankranti. Baisakhi is particularly significant for Sikhs, who consider it as their New Year, celebrated mainly in North Punjab and Haryana.
2,400 Indian Sikh Pilgrims Travel To Pakistan To Participate In Baisakhi Festival
Around 2,400 Indian Sikh pilgrims crossed the Wagah Border into Pakistan’s Punjab capital on Saturday to participate in the annual Baisakhi festival, an official said, PTI reported.
Sardar Ramash Singh Orara, the first Sikh Minister in Pakistan’s Punjab province and President of Pakistan’s Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, along with Rana Shahid, additional secretary of shrines at the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), welcomed the Indian pilgrims at the Wagah border.
“As many as 2,400 Indian Sikh pilgrims arrived here today to attend Baisakhi festivities in Gurdwara Punja Sahib, Hassanabdal,” ETPB spokesperson Amir Hashmi said, as reported by PTI.
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The ETPB maintains the holy sites of Pakistan’s minority communities.
He mentioned that the Indian Sikhs were transported to Hassanabdal by train for the first time following the upgrade of the Hassanabdal Railway Station. The police and the Rangers ensured security for the pilgrims. He said that although the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi had issued 2,975 visas to Sikh pilgrims for the annual festival on April 14 in Hassanabdal, only 2,400 of them arrived.
The ETPB has made all necessary arrangements for the Baisakhi Mela, and first-time pilgrims from India will travel by rail instead of buses, The main event of the festival will take place on Sunday, with over 11,000 local and foreign Sikh pilgrims expected to gather at Panja Sahib, Hashmi noted.
In addition to Indian pilgrims, others have arrived from Canada, the US, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. “The Indian Sikhs will be housed in hostels managed by the ETPB while those from other countries will stay in various colleges and schools,” Hashmi said.
