Devotees throng Golden Temple to celebrate 1st Prakash Purb Utsav

Devotees thronged the Golden Temple here in large numbers on Saturday to pay obeisance on the occasion of the first Prakash Purb Utsav of the holy book Guru Granth Sahib.

The first Prakash Purb marks the installation of Guru Granth Sahib in Harmandir Sahib, also known as Golden temple, in 1604.

To mark the occasion, around 200 quintal of different types of flowers imported from various countries, including Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, and from different parts of India, were used to decorate all walls and roofs of the sanctum sanctorum, 'darshani deorhi' (main passage to the temple), Akal Takht (top temporal seat), besides entire marbled periphery of the Harmandir Sahib, according to the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC).

Devotees queued up to pay obeisance in the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple, which was illuminated with lights, and at the Akal Takht in the early hours of Saturday. Burning of crackers also took place for 10 minutes around the sanctum sanctorum, the SGPC said.

Before paying obeisance, devotees took holy dip in the pond of the temple at the marbled periphery. Special arrangements to facilitate the devotees were made by the management of the Golden Temple.

Langar (community kitchen) with elaborate arrangements was done for more than four lakh devotees who would stay in the Golden Temple throughout the night, SGPC said.

Heavy task force of SGPC was deployed in the periphery of the Golden Temple to provide security for the visiting devotees.

The SGPC said 'nagar kirtan' (religious procession) was also carried out from the historic Gurudwara Ramsar Sahib in Amritsar, where Guru Granth Sahib was edited and complied by the fifth Sikh Guru Arjan Devi.

This religious procession passed through various markets of the walled city before culmination at the Golden Temple, which was the first Sikh shrine in the world where Guru Granth Sahib was installed for the first time after its compilation, the SGPC said.