Patna: More than 5,000 non-resident Indians are expected to take part in the concluding celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh's 350th birth anniversary from December 22 to December 26 this year, said Takht Shri Harmandir Sahib managing committee general secretary Sarjindra Singh.

Devotees from Canada, US, UK, South Africa and a few other other African countries are expected. The committee has made arrangements to accommodate around two lakh devotees at a cost of Rs 5 crore.

Lauding the state's initiative, Singh said the government had built two tent cities - one on Bypass road and another at Kangan Ghat in Patna City area for around 50,000 pilgrims. The government will also ferry devotees in 200 buses free of cost from different parts of Patna to the Patna Sahib gurdwara.

"The seriousness of the government can be gauged from the fact that chief minister Nitish Kumar has visited the tent cities to take stock of the arrangements," Singh said.

He said the government had also provided three ferry boats to transport pilgrims from Kangan Ghat to Gai Ghat over the Ganga. Each boat can ferry around 200 people.

The committee has set up four sarais (inns) comprising 350 rooms to provide accommodation to tourists. Besides, 60 rooms have been booked in other sarais. One hundred air-conditioned rooms will also be available for VIPs.

"Four schools run by the Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee has also been reserved for accommodation, Singh said. "The government has provided 12 state-run schools in Patna for accommodation from December 18 to December 26."