Devotees across Punjab and Haryana today thronged the 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, a large number of devotees including many from abroad, paid obeisance in the holy Sikh shrine of Golden Temple, reports said.
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 undertaken to mark the occasion.
'Langars' (Community kitchens) were also organised for the devotees.
