This historic Punjab town gears up for Parkash Purab devotees

Oct 31 This historic town in Gurdaspur district of Punjab bordering Pakistan will witness convergence of 30,000 pilgrims a day for four days from November 8, on the occasion of 550th anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism.

To accommodate the pilgrims, many of whom will be coming from distant places, 30 acres have been transformed into a well-equipped tented city, with capacity to put up around 3,500 people a day.

This town is all set to welcome its pilgrim guests, in a manner befitting the historic 550th Parkash Purab celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev with its 544 European style tents, 100 Swiss cottages and 20 Darbar style accommodations.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who inspected the tented city on Thursday, expressed satisfaction at the arrangements.

The main 'pandal' has a capacity of 30,000 pilgrims, expected to converge here on each day of the Dera Baba Nanak Utsav from November 8 to 11.

The Chief Minister also reviewed the public utility arrangements, including drinking water and 'langar' or community kitchen facilities. The 'langar' hall is designed to serve 1,500 people at a time, with a kitchen equipped with modern facilities.

The Tented City project was developed at an outlay of Rs 4.2 crore with an accommodation of 3,544 people.

Other features of the tent city include a registration room, a 'joda ghar', a cloakroom, a VIP Lounge and a fire station.

Booking and registration is free and can be done both online and offline. Online booking will start on November 2.

( With inputs from IANS )